Clearest Indication
by lizardwriter
Summary: Uni proves a bigger obstacle than expected for Naomi and Emily, but when Naomi runs into Katie somehow the pain lessens. Disclaimer: I don't own skins or the characters. Please read and REVIEW! Title from a Great Big Sea song by the same name.
1. Chapter 1

It's painful. So fucking painful when it happens. And she's expecting it. So she feels stupid for having it hurt so fucking much. But it does anyway. She's supposed to be going to classes, but she can't drag herself to them. Instead she stares at the pictures of her and Emily on her wall that she can't bear to pull off because that would mean that they're really over. They had barely even talked the past couple of weeks, being too busy with classes. She hadn't even seen Emily in well over a month because Brighton is just too far from St. Andrews. Their whole dynamic had shifted since they'd hit university even though they'd promised they'd stay together forever. They'd make it, surely. They were in love after all. But it had changed never the less.

The first month they'd talked via webcam constantly. Then they'd made friends. Coursework had intensified. Life in general had intervened and their conversations had grown less frequent. Christmas had been awkward. They hadn't fit together in the way they'd used to. Naomi knew that her love hadn't diminished, but she had a sneaking suspicion that it was for an Emily that no longer existed, or an Emily that was fading, disappearing to make room for the new Emily in front of her.

Then the call had come, finally, two months after Christmas. Emily needed room. She needed space. There were interesting people and places and she needed to explore her life up there, alone, independently. So now Naomi was lying in bed, ignoring her calls from her friends, crying. It hurt. She just couldn't help it. She tried, but she couldn't. Some part of her logical brain was saying that she'd live, that things would get better, but right now it was hard to believe. Emily had been her life, her world for two years. Now she was Emilyless. How was she supposed to go back to Bristol for Easter? How was she ever supposed to go back to Bristol and see everybody? Everybody who would be expecting Emily and Naomi, the perfect couple. Everybody who would ask what went wrong. Everybody who would look at her with pity and say they were sorry, but then go home and forget about it. How was she supposed to go back and see all of the familiar places that were full of memories of Emily? She wouldn't even be able to walk into her own house or sleep in her own bed without thinking of Emily! She knew she wouldn't! So how would she be able to stay there and not cry every second of every day when she couldn't even manage to stop crying for longer than an hour here in the halls?

It would be hell. She knew it would.

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Alice had literally had to drag her out of her room. Naomi knew it was time, but that doesn't make being out tonight any easier. All around her, all she can see are couples. It was disgusting the way they all seemed so happy. It shouldn't be allowed. Happy couples around someone mourning a recent breakup should be outlawed. She declares as much to Alice who rolls her eyes and hands her another shot.

"You need to forget about her! Tonight is about friends! Friends that you've been neglecting!" Alice reminds her.

Naomi nods half-heartedly. She really has been neglecting them too much. She starts to relax, starts to have fun, remembers what it feels like to smile as Tom makes an especially amusing joke, and then a familiar shade of red hair ruins it all. Suddenly her heart is aching all the more acutely. Suddenly she can't breathe in the club and she's gasping for air and Alice is dragging her towards the exit. Once they're outside, Alice hands her a fag and Naomi inhales gratefully.

"Too soon then," Alice murmurs and Naomi nods.

"Shame it's such a fucking popular colour this year," Alice comments after a few more minutes and Naomi's thankful that she has such an observant friend. A friend who'd met Emily, and knew enough to know that that particular shade of red would affect Naomi for that reason.

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Things get better after that. Naomi starts to feel a little more human, a little less like a pathetic, crying shell of who she was. She even manages to make it out to a few more clubs. The worry lines across Alice's face are fading too.

Then Naomi realises that the universe was just lulling her into a false sense of security. It is out to get her after all because Katie fucking Fitch is in her local pub. Of all the people, of all the places she could have gone, of all the times she could have been there, it had to be Katie Fitch, in Naomi's pub, now. It just wasn't right.

"What are you doing here?" Naomi's aware t hat the question comes out harshly and the surprise on Katie's face is genuine.

"I'm visiting my mate Luke. Fucker dropped out of London College of Fashion to follow his boyfriend here!" Katie rolls her eyes and jabs the thin boy with hair so blonde that it's almost white sitting next to her on the bar stool. She's got a pleasant smile on her face, none of the malice that Naomi expects.

"Oh," Naomi murmurs because she can't think of anything remotely intelligent to say.

"How've you been, Naomi? You look good," Katie tells her, and Naomi rolls it over in her head, looking for insincerity behind the words, but she can't find any. Maybe Katie's changed. Maybe being away from Bristol has done her some good. Maybe she's finally grown up.

"Um...Thanks. You too," Naomi says lamely after a second and she feels like a complete idiot.

"I see you've decided to branch out into matching outfits. It's a good change," Katie grins and Naomi rolls her eyes because at least teasing, even good natured teasing (which is not the kind she is used to from Katie), she knows how to deal with.

"Fuck off," she mutters, but she's surprised to find the hint of a smile in her voice.

"How's uni?" Katie inquires.

Naomi's still trying to figure out if Katie's just being polite or if she's genuinely interested. Naomi shrugs. "It's good. It's fine. A lot of work, but manageable," Naomi finds herself responding.

"Good, good," Katie smiles at her again and Naomi's just completely thrown off.

"Who's this? You making new friends?" Alice appears at her side, then takes in Katie. "Oh."

"Alice, this is Katie. Emily's twin sister," Naomi introduces her.

"Oh," Alice repeats. Then after a second she regains her composure. "Nice to meet you," she extends her hand. "I'm Alice. Friend of Naomi's."

"Nice to meet you too," Katie replies and shakes the hand offered to her.

A thought strike's Naomi then. What if Katie doesn't know? It seems unlikely. After all, they've been broken up for a few weeks now, and Katie and Emily barely go a day without talking, right? But Emily's changed. And it seems Katie has too. So maybe they don't talk as much now. "Sorry, but do you not know?" Naomi interjects into the polite banter that Alice and Katie have started.

"Know what?" Katie looks genuinely concerned.

"You really don't, do you?" Naomi says, shaking her head in amazement.

"Really don't what? Naomi start making sense for fuck's sake!" Katie insists, and Naomi hears a hint of the old, impatient Katie there.

"We broke up. Well, she broke up with me," Naomi informs her, and waits for nice Katie to fade, but it doesn't happen. Instead Katie's face goes from shocked, to genuinely sad.

"Wow. Really? When?" Katie asks.

"Twenty-three days ago," Naomi replies and she realises instantly how pathetic she sounds by knowing the exact number of days.

"I'm really sorry, Naomi," Katie says genuinely and then shocks Naomi further by standing and wrapping the taller girl in a tight hug. "How are you doing?" Katie whispers quietly.

"Shitty," Naomi surprises herself by answering honestly.

"Shit, I wish I knew. I would've warned you I was going to be around or something. It can't be easy. I really thought you two...Well...Sorry," Katie says as she pulls away.

"Yeah, thanks." Naomi hates that she's got tears stinging her eyes now. And it's Katie, of all fucking people, who's saying exactly the right thing. _Hell must have frozen over,_ she thinks.

"Here, you two must sit! Have a drink! I'll buy!" Katie offers.

"No, I don't want to intrude on your time with your friend," Naomi shakes her head, but she's astonished to realise that part of her wants to stay. Maybe it's just because Katie is a connection to Emily, and Naomi knows that that's pathetic, but it's true. Maybe it's because Katie is acting nothing at all like the Katie Fitch Naomi knows. Maybe it's just nicer to see a familiar face than she'd expected.

"Don't be silly, honey, I can share," Luke counters and Naomi finds herself sitting down across from Katie before she's even consciously made a decision.

Alice takes a seat next to her and shoots her a curious look but Naomi just shrugs.

Katie gets up and buys a round of drinks, and Naomi starts sipping her beer gratefully and she's amazed at how easily she falls into conversation with Katie, how fun it is to catch up, too see how much the short brunette has changed since she's ventured off on her own.

The evening passes in a flash and before Naomi knows it, she's yawning and they're standing and putting on their coats and stepping outside.

"I'm in town all week. We should hang out again," Katie offers.

"I deleted your number," Naomi admits sheepishly. "Sorry."

Katie laughs and holds out her hand so Naomi hands her phone over. Katie puts in her number quickly. "Give me a call."

Naomi nods.

Katie waits and Naomi realises that she's expecting something, but she doesn't know what. Katie finally rolls her eyes and pulls Naomi into another hug. "It's really good to see you, especially now you know how to dress yourself."

Naomi laughs lightly as she wraps her arms around Katie and tries not to think how familiar the small form feels against her.

"I mean it. Call me, ok?" Katie reinforces.

Naomi nods. "I will."

"Good," Katie replies, then pulls away, links arms with Luke and strolls off into the night.

"So that's Katie Fitch the Bitch," Alice mutters when they're out of ear shot.

"Yeah," Naomi confirms.

"I have to say you kinda painted a different picture of her in your stories," Alice comments.

"She's changed," Naomi explains.

"I should say so," Alice agrees.

They start walking back towards their halls.

"She's nothing like Emily though," Alice adds after a few minutes.

"No. She's not," Naomi agrees, then marvels how that's the first time she's ever been thankful for that fact.

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Katie hasn't changed completely, Naomi realises later that night when she's lying in bed and for once not pining after the Emily she once had. She's still very definitely Katie. There were bits and pieces of her scattered throughout the evening. The hints of bitchiness. The comments about fashion and outfits. The slightly caustic banter. It was all still there. It more felt like Katie had come into her own. Like somehow part of her that allowed her to be freer and happier and nicer while still being herself had been stifled in Bristol and had been set free now that she was off on her own. It was nice, this combination of nicer Katie and old Katie. It made seeing her, the familiar features, the familiar dark brown eyes, less painful somehow.


	2. Chapter 2

She's surprised when she calls Katie. She shouldn't...probably.

Katie greets her pleasantly enough on the phone though, and so Naomi goes against her better judgement and makes plans to meet Katie for coffee.

Katie greets her with a hug and Naomi can't help being surprised. It's hard not to expect the old Katie, the one she went to college with.

"I can't believe you're matching again! Did you have a brain transplant with somebody with a fashion sense?" Katie teases and Naomi finds herself letting out a small laugh.

It feels strange. It feels foreign. It's the first time she's laughed in twenty-four days after all. Except it's not, because she'd laughed a little night before, because of Katie. It had felt equally as foreign then too.

"Shut up, Katie," Naomi retorts.

"And who has lamer comebacks?" Katie adds with a wicked grin.

Naomi laughs again. "Glad to see you haven't given up on bitchiness completely Katiekins," she manages this time.

"That's better," Katie says with a small laugh of her own.

They order coffee and settle into a corner of the café. Katie studies Naomi for a few seconds. "How are you doing?" Katie inquires.

Naomi contemplates lying. She contemplates saying she's fine. Something makes her tell the truth. She shrugs. "I've been better."

"Sorry," Katie murmurs.

"Are you? I mean...Are you genuinely sorry that me and Emily broke up?" Naomi inquires because she can't help herself. She's been wondering it since the night before.

Katie looks as if she's about to give a smart-ass retort, but she bites her lip and takes a deep breath. "Yeah. I am," Katie replies.

Naomi takes a deep breath as she processes Katie's response. "Don't take this the wrong way, but why? You were always so against us. I mean you stopped giving us quite as much shit, but it never really seemed like you were happy for us."

Katie sighs. "I wasn't against the two of you being together. Well, maybe at first, but I was young and stupid and clinging to an idea of Emily that you dating her didn't fit into. But then I saw it, saw the two of you, and the real Emily, and then I stopped thinking you two shouldn't be together."

"So making our lives slightly miserable was just so you didn't lose your touch?" Naomi interjects before she can think better of it.

"Of course," Katie replies with a grin, but then the grin fades and she turns serious again. "I was jealous, Naomi. I mean sure you two had bumps in the road, but all in all you were good together. You fit together in a way that I'd never fit with anyone before, and I was jealous of that. Of the happiness it caused. Of the love that Emily got to feel for you and the love that you returned to her."

Naomi finds her brain replaying some of those happy times: cuddling on her couch while they watched telly, stroking Emily's hair in the morning to gently wake her up and having Emily's radiant smile be her reward, laying by the lake, their lake, and just being together, holding hands, linking arms. Familiar tears sting her eyes when she remembers that those things will never happen again.

Katie covers Naomi's hand with hers and Naomi takes comfort in the small gesture.

"Sorry," Katie murmurs.

Naomi shakes her head. "No. It's fine." A tear trickling down her cheek betrays her.

Katie gives her a knowing, slightly sceptical smile and has the common decency to look the other way pretend not to notice when Naomi uses her napkin to dry her tears.

They drink their coffee in silence for a few minutes while Naomi regains her composure a bit.

"Did she say why? When she broke it off?" Katie asks hesitantly.

Naomi nods. "She needed space and wanted to be able to live her life in St. Andrews without me."

"I'm sorry," Katie says softly.

"Me too," Naomi agrees, closing her eyes to keep in the tears that are threatening again.

"She's changed," Katie comments. "I mean at Christmas and stuff...She was different. And when we talk...she's just changed."

"Yeah. I think you're right," Naomi replies, taking the last sip of her coffee and then staring idly into the empty mug.

"Let's get out of here, yeah?" Katie suggests, standing up.

Naomi nods gratefully. The air in the café has somehow become suffocating as thoughts of Emily and the life they could have had together swirl through Naomi's head.

Katie links her arm through Naomi's as they exit the café and Naomi's taken aback at the familiarity of it. As if sensing Naomi's discomfort, Katie drops her arm and settles into walking beside her.

They walk in silence for a bit and end up wandering along rocky beach. Naomi finds herself tuning out the drifts of laughter from the crazy's actually playing in the surf on this cold March afternoon. They must be English, she muses briefly, because nobody else is daft enough to come to the beach on a freezing cold day just because the sun is actually shining.

"When I first got to London, I latched myself onto the fittest most popular bloke I could find, yeah?" Katie says after a while.

"Well, it's good to know some things haven't changed," Naomi comments with a sly grin before she can stop herself.

"Shut up, cunt," Katie mutters, but she's grinning as well and there's not vehemence in her voice. "So _anyway_, I hung out with him a lot to start, and then I realised that he was a complete and total wanker before I realised that he was gay."

"Well I can't say I'm surprised, given how long it took you to figure out that Emily was gay," Naomi snorts, but then thoughts of the redhead fill her mind and she feels pain stabbing through her acutely and she freezes mid stride.

Katie stops and looks at her and swallows whatever retort she was about to shoot back at Naomi.

"Yeah, right," Katie murmurs instead. "So like, I'm still hanging out with him, yeah? Cause he's still super fit. And he's just like walking all over me because, let's face it, my confidence still wasn't all that great at the end of college thanks to this lovely scar on my head and I kinda started in on that pattern, until one day I met Luke, who it turned out Carl, that's the guy, was screwing and screwing over at the same time, right? So we formed a kind of bond over how Carl was treating both of us and we realised we didn't have to take that shit and we both kicked his sorry ass to the curb."

Naomi was nodding along but she didn't understand the point of the story, assuming there was one. "Ok..." she prompts when Katie stops talking.

"And then like a month later he came back and apologised to both of us, because apparently he'd actually fallen for someone who'd fucked him over for a change, and he even tried getting back with Luke, who was with Jason by then."

"Jason being?" Naomi interrupts.

"His current boyfriend. The one he moved here for?" Katie reminds her.

"Right," Naomi remembers Luke talking about a Jason the other night. "So is there a point to this little story of yours Katie?"

Katie sighs and takes a seat on a small outcropping of rocks before looking up at Naomi. "People can be cunts whether they're gay or straight, and they can make mistakes either way as well. It doesn't matter if you're gay or straight because you're still human."

"Yes, Katie. Welcome to the world the rest of us have lived in for years now," Naomi replies sarcastically because she still doesn't really get the point.

"Shut up you stupid cow!" Katie sticks out her tongue at Naomi. "What I'm trying to say is Emily's human. And I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry that you got hurt, but there are other people around, and in time you'll heal. Or my sister will realise she's made a mistake."

"You think she's made a mistake? Because, if I recall correctly, you thought her dating me to begin with was a big mistake," Naomi asks as she stares at Katie in surprise.

Katie rolls her eyes. "For fuck's sake, can't you just take a fucking compliment?"

Naomi just continues to stare blankly. "I'm just not used to them from you," Naomi tries to tease, but her words just come out sounding extremely honest instead.

"Yeah. Sorry about that," Katie glances out at the waves.

Naomi takes a deep breath, nods, and takes a seat next to Katie, readjusting slightly when she realises that she's chosen possibly the spikiest part of the rock to perch on.

Katie notices Naomi's discomfort and laughs lightly. Naomi tries to glare up at her but instead just ends up laughing as well. They allow themselves to indulge in their fit of giggles for a while, exchanging looks that simply fuel the flames of their laughing.

When they finally relax and catch their breath, they just sit side by side staring out at the ocean for a while, listening to the sound of the surf as the wind howls around them and the sun beats down, not cutting down on the cold at all.

Naomi shivers finally and glances at Katie. "I don't think Emily thinks she's made a mistake," Naomi admits and she feels like she's stabbing herself in the heart as she says it. She takes a deep ragged breath. "And I'm not even positive I think she did. It just hurts, knowing that I'm not with her. That I have no right anymore to inquire as to how she is, or what she's doing, or who she's doing it with. I wake up every morning and forget, just for a second, and then it floods back in a horrible wave that feels like it's drowning me."

Katie reaches out and takes Naomi's hand in hers, giving it a squeeze. It's such a small gesture, really, but to Naomi it feels like so much more and she finds tears welling up in her eyes again. It really is ridiculous, she thinks, that she can't seem to go a few hours, let alone a whole day, without crying. And to cry in front of Katie Fitch...Well, part of her head still can't help that think that it's a ridiculously bad idea to let Katie see her be vulnerable in any way, even though Katie's given her no reason to feel that way in the past two days. Still the tears squeeze out and burn their path down her face and Katie, to her credit, pretends not to notice.

"I don't want to go back to Bristol for Easter. She's everywhere there," Naomi mutters through a sniffle as she wipes at her tears.

"Do you have to go?" Katie inquires.

Naomi nods as she gets hold of her emotions with a last sniffle. "I promised my mum. I think she's a bit lonely with me gone."

"I'm sure my parents would be happy to lend her James to keep her company," Katie offers with a grin.

Naomi barks out a laugh. "I don't think she's quite that lonely."

Katie laughs in return, then her turns to Naomi with a sly look on her face. "Just, like, remember to be your cunt self, only don't forget that you actually kind of have a fashion sense now, and I'm sure you'll be ok."

Naomi rolls her eyes, but grins nonetheless. "I dunno. I just got a sudden urge to wear something oversized and repulsively floral."

Katie groans. "Ugh! Don't even joke about that! At least you admit it's repulsive now."

"Yes, but so's leopard print, which I have to say I'm rather glad I haven't seen you wear in the past two days," Naomi confesses.

"Touché! But for the record, a bit of leopard print, can be quite stylish!"

"Oh yeah?" Naomi raises an eyebrow sceptically.

"Definitely!" Katie says, sounding self-assured. "I bet that I could design you an outfit that had leopard print somewhere on it that you would wear."

Naomi chuckles. "I highly doubt it, Katiekins."

Katie rolls her eyes, but looks slightly smug.

"What?" Naomi inquires.

"Nothing," Katie grins innocently back at her. "Just thinking."

Naomi is surprised when she finally glances at her watch and finds she's been hanging out with Katie for the better part of four hours and she's only cried once. In fact she's been laughing for most of it. Katie, it turns out, has rather entertaining stories from her first term at fashion college and Naomi can tell, instantly, in the animated way she talks about it, that Katie loves it. When they eventually part ways, Katie surprises Naomi with another hug (and Naomi's really not sure that she'll ever get used to getting a friendly hug from Katie because it's just so weird, even if the general shape of her body is just so familiar that it's painful). When Katie pulls away she smiles genuinely at Naomi and says, "So Jason and Luke are making dinner for me tomorrow night and Luke suggested I invite you and Alice. What do you say?"

Naomi hesitates. She's just had a rather pleasant day with Katie, but it still feels weird. And there is still the problem that Katie reminds her of Emily, not that she's not thinking about Emily most of the time when she's not with Katie anyway. She just can't help feeling like she's waiting for the other shoe to drop and bitch Katie to come back full force. But Katie raises her eyebrows in a hopeful way, and Naomi finds herself replying, "Yeah, sure. Sounds fun. I'll ask Alice."

Katie's smile broadens and she waves at Naomi. "Great. Bye then. I'll text you their address."

Naomi watches her leave as she bites her lip, thinking about how strange the world seems sometimes. When Katie's out of sight, she shakes herself out of her daze and heads back to her halls. She doesn't notice until later that she feels a little less empty inside than she's been feeling.


	3. Chapter 3

_Ef,_

_Interesting happenings in Bristol. You'd get a kick, I'm sure. I've run into Naomi of all people. You know she's not so bad? Like really, even without Ems around. Speaking of which, seems my stupid sister's broken her heart. She seems really down. Feel like doing Easter in Bristol to cheer her up?_

_-Katie xx_

_P.S. Luke says hi and are you eating enough. Lol. He doesn't believe that you scarf down McDonald's and stay so skinny. _

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Katie sighs when her phone rings. She should have known better than to assume that Effy would simply write a short e-mail back. She only didn't talk when you wanted her to. When you'd wish she rather kept silent, she always had more to say.

"Hi, Ef," Katie says without even bothering to glance at her screen.

"You and Naomi, huh?" Effy starts right in. Katie has to appreciate that at least Effy doesn't waste time with small talk.

"She's really depressed," Katie explains.

"Well I suppose it's not the most bizarre friendship to come out of our dysfunctional little group," Effy muses.

"No. That would probably be us!" Katie points out and is rewarded with a small grunt that she knows is really a laugh out of Effy.

"So Easter in Bristol?"

"Yeah. What do you say?" Katie asks.

"Not quite how I imagined spending Easter, but I suppose I could. For a friend," Effy concedes.

"Good," Katie replies thankfully. She definitely did not want to go back to Bristol by herself. She needed someone who knew the new her there so she didn't fall back into old ways. Certainly being around her parents made it harder for her to not be the old Katie, the one they expected.

"Want to stay at mine?" Effy offers.

Katie contemplates it for a second. "Maybe. I'll see if Ems is coming home or not."

"If she is, will she really be pleased that you're spending time with her ex?" Effy asks thoughtfully.

Katie shrugs even though she know Effy can't see it. Effy's intuitive enough she'll probably know Katie's shrugging anyway, Katie figures. "I think Naomi needs me more than Emily does right now given that Naomi can't stop crying and Emily hasn't even bothered calling me to tell me that she and Naomi broke up," Katie replies.

The line is silent for a minute, and if it was anybody besides Effy, Katie would probably have thought that she'd lost the call, but she knows better. Finally Effy says, "Ok. So see you in a few weeks?"

"See you then," Katie confirms and doesn't bother waiting for a goodbye that she knows will never come.

"Alright, love?" Luke asks from behind her.

Katie turns and nods.

"Effy?" he concludes.

Katie nods again.

"You ever going to admit that you fancy her? Just a little?" Luke teases.

Katie rolls her eyes. "Fuck off!"

Luke laughs lightly. "Well next time you talk to your _girlfriend_ tell her I say hi," he grins at her.

Katie slaps him lightly on the arm. "Just because you're gay, doesn't mean everybody is!" she retorts.

"Everybody's got a bit of gay in them, hun," Luke counters. "And speaking of gay...Naomi is going to be here soon!"

"Right, yeah. I've just got another call to make and I'll be right out," Katie smiles at him.

Luke nods and leaves the room again.

Katie picks up her phone and sighs. She's not especially sure that she really wants to make this call, but she kind of needs to. She presses speed dial "2" and puts the phone to her ear. It rings five times and she's just about decided that her call's not going to be answered when a muffled voice says, "'Lo?"

"Are you asleep, you lazy cow? It's fucking eight o'clock at night!" Katie exclaims.

"So? We fucking didn't get in 'til seven in the morning, did we?"

"I don't know. And who is we exactly? Because Naomi's here in Brighton," Katie retorts.

The line is silent for a minute, and Katie smiles to herself grimly because good, Emily deserves to think about that. Katie hears a rustling followed by the sound of footsteps and then Emily's voice asks, "What're you doing in Brighton?"

"I really don't think that's the point. Do you?" Katie replies pointedly.

The line is silent for another second. "We broke up."

"I thought _you_ broke up with _her_," Katie says.

"I did," Emily confirms with a sigh. "Look, Katie, what do you want?"

Katie rolls her eyes. She doesn't know when she and her sister drifted so apart, but since Emily's gotten to uni, she's just become someone else entirely it seems. "Are you coming home for Easter?"

There's another pause. "No. I don't think so," Emily replies.

"Fine," Katie says, feeling slightly bitchy, but, well, Emily drove her to it. "Well I've gotta go. Naomi will be here soon," she added for good measure. "Bye." She hangs up before her sister can question her last statement.

Her phone rings not two seconds later, but she ignores the call. Emily tries again, but Katie continues to ignore it.

"Katie!" Luke calls out, and she sighs.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming," she mutters under her breath as she heads out to the kitchen. Her phone chirps letting her know she's got a message. She knows it's from Emily and she flips her phone open to read it.

_That's fucked up! What do u mean N will be there soon?_

Katie doesn't reply, but Luke peers curiously over her shoulder when her phone chirps again a few minutes later. Katie shoves her phone in her pocket to ignore it.

"Don't want to answer those?" Luke inquires.

Katie shakes her head.

"You ready for your new girlfriend to come to dinner?" Luke teases.

"Still straight, Luke!" she reminds him. "And just...Ew! I mean it's Naomi. If I somehow did decide that I wasn't straight, I would not go for my sister's ex. Got it?"

Jason laughs as he enters the room and kisses Katie on the cheek. "I think the lady doth protest too much," he joins in on the teasing.

"Oh fuck off!" she growls, though she knows they're just playing so she doesn't really get upset.

Her phone chirps again. She doesn't bother reading it this time. She knows it'll be along the same lines of the previous one. Emily deserves to worry about this. Based on their short conversation, she sure as hell wasn't worrying about Naomi's feelings. Or Katie's for that matter. Katie wonders when Naomi's feelings had started to matter to her in a context outside of those also involving Emily's feelings. The girl just seemed so broken. Katie had never seen someone so upset over a breakup. She certainly never had been. Then again, she'd definitely never had what Naomi and Emily had had.

And despite Naomi's misery, she hadn't been a cunt to Katie the past few days. That's what makes Katie marvel the most. She knows that if she were feeling half as miserable she'd be rather bitchy to everyone. Especially the twin sister of her ex who generally speaking had been rather unpleasant to her. But they'd grown up. They both had. They'd spent time apart. _Maybe that's why I'm more worried about her right now,_ Katie muses. _Maybe now we can actually be friends._ Things certainly seem to be shaping up like that.

"You going to answer those?" Jason asks by her ear, shaking her out of her thoughts and making her jump.

"What?" Katie demands.

"Those text messages?" Jason replies.

Katie checks her phone. She's got another three messages. She turns her phone to vibrate. "No. They're not important."

"Can you put these on the table, please, love?" Luke asks, handing her handfuls of silverware.

Katie nods and heads out of the kitchen.

"Is it your old girlfriend getting jealous of your new one then?" Jason calls after her playfully.

She shoots a glare over her shoulder and regrets how full her hands are because otherwise he would definitely be getting flipped off right now. _Boys,_ she sighs,_ doesn't matter if they're gay or straight, they're still a pain in the arse._ God help her, she does love them though.


	4. Chapter 4

It's a bit weird seeing Katie interacting so comfortably with Jason and Luke as they sit around the circular table in the boys's flat. Naomi can't help feeling a little like an outsider looking in on this new life that Katie leads now. Katie's so at ease with the two of them and the familiarity with which they treat her makes it obvious that they consider her practically family.

It's odd seeing Katie being teased playfully and not overreacting. It's not that she doesn't give as good as she gets, but she isn't get as defensive as she used to.

"Oi!" Naomi groans as Alice elbows her in the side, breaking her from her train of thought. "What was that for?" Naomi grumbles.

"You've been gaping," Alice informs her with a smug smile.

"What? No I haven't. Shut up!" Naomi glares at her friend, catching Katie's phone vibrating out of the corner of her eye for what has to be the fifth time since they've started eating.

"So what were you and your girlfriend talking about before? Does she miss me?" Luke teases Katie.

Katie glares a little more fiercely as Naomi's eyes widen. "Shut up, Luke," Katie growls.

"Sorry, did Luke just say your girlfriend?" Naomi interjects angling herself in her chair so that she could fully look at Katie who sat to her immediate left.

"He's just being stupid. I'm straight, obviously," Katie explains, rolling her eyes at the boys.

"I dunno. I think you'd go gay for Effy!" Jason counters with a sly grin.

Naomi's eyes widen further. She can't have heard them write. "Effy?"

"Yeah. Cute, skinny little thing," Luke supplies.

"Effy fucking Stonem?" Naomi's aware that her voice sounds a bit shrill, but seriously? Sure she was aware that Katie and Effy had made a kind of tentative peace before leaving college, but this was just... "You're dating Effy fucking Stonem? The girl who hit you in the head with a rock?"

"What?" Luke, Jason, and Alice chorus as if it was rehearsed.

"We have heard nothing about rocks," Luke adds.

"I'm _not_ dating her," Katie clarifies. "We're just friends. Those two just have overactive imaginations," Katie nods at Luke and Jason.

"Sorry, but back to this whole thing about you getting hit in the head with a rock..." Jason prompts.

Katie sighs. "Thanks a lot, Naoms."

Naomi shivers at the nickname leaving Katie's mouth. If it weren't for the lisp, it'd have sounded exactly like Emily. Naomi pauses for a second, realising that that was the first time all night she'd thought about the redhead.

"Well?" Alice encourages when it seems like Katie's not going to elaborate.

"There was a minor incident back during the first year of college. Effy was tripping and I was mad at her...It just happened," Katie downplays it.

"Minor incident?" Naomi cuts in with a wry laugh. She's heard plenty of fibs in her day, but this takes the cake. "You have to be joking. There was definitely a point when you would have claimed that Effy ruined your life!"

"Yeah, well, people grow up," Katie glowers.

Naomi can tell that she's not especially relishing this attention, but she can't get over them being friends. Like legitimate friends that keep in touch on a regular basis and that other new friends know about. Effy's already met this new Katie. She's already seen her interact with Luke and Jason from the sounds of it. Naomi can't help it, it's strange to think about. "Yeah, but really? I mean Effy?"

"We were friends second year of college," Katie retorts defensively, glancing at her phone as it vibrates again.

"No you weren't. You tolerated each other's presence because we all still tried to hang out together," Naomi counters. She can't stop herself.

"Yeah, but then during that actual friendship formed, ok?" Katie replies. "I dunno. We just started hanging out just us a bit towards the end of the year, and then over the summer and she's the only person I've really kept in touch with since I moved to London. Besides, well..." Katie cuts herself off, but Naomi doesn't need her to finish the sentence to know she means Emily. She shakes it off. "She's the only one besides, like, you, who's decided to grow up at all. You saw Cook at Christmas. Still the same immature git," Katie points out.

Naomi nods, though really she's always had a bit of a soft spot for Cook, ever since she realised that he really was a little deeper than he appeared to be. "I guess it's not the strangest friendship to come out of our little dysfunctional group," Naomi comments, although really it's definitely up there.

"Yeah. That'd probably be us, babes," Katie counters.

Naomi bit her bottom lip in surprise. Sure she'd been hanging out with Katie, enjoying her company even, but the fact that Katie considered them friends still shocked her. She realises that they've certainly been acting in a very friendly way. Who'd have ever thought that she and Katie would be friends independently, on their own, outside of the rest of their group? Naomi wanted to comment, but she knew she'd just make the situation awkward so she held her tongue, making a mental note to mention it to Katie later.

"Plus our Katie's totally got the hots for her," Luke adds with an impish grin and Naomi, Alice, and Jason laugh as Katie glares.

"Luke, I'm still straight!" Katie insists.

"Ok, ok! I'm just saying you and she are very couple-y when you're together," Luke teases.

"We're best friends, Luke," Katie rolls her eyes, but Naomi can tell that this is a playful argument that they've had before.

Katie's phone vibrates again, and Naomi's curiosity gets the better of her. She grabs the phone from the table next to Katie and looks at the name. She freezes when she sees it's Emily and suddenly she's extremely aware that she's at dinner with Emily's twin, Emily's family. Being friends with Katie meant that she'd never get away from Emily completely. They'd always be sisters. She shivers.

"Naomi, give it back!" Katie demands, but Naomi holds the phone out of Katie's reach and opens a text message.

She doesn't know why. She must be a glutton for punishment. Or maybe it's just that this is the closest she's felt to Emily in weeks. It's the only proof she's had that someone who she'd once thought would never not be a part of her life is still alive. It's an extremely painful thought, and suddenly it feels like someone is ripping her chest open all over again.

The text is in all caps. Emily's mad. Naomi cringes because she actually knows that just from a text. That's how well she knows the girl.

_WHAT THE FUCK!_

That's all it demands. Naomi sees a dozen other unopened texts all from Emily.

"Naomi!" Katie warns, but there's a note of pleading in her voice.

Naomi gives her back the phone. She doesn't want to know. She can't want to know. She doesn't have a right to know anymore. Emily had made that perfectly clear. "I..." Naomi feels like she couldn't breathe. She's only vaguely aware of Alice mouthing "Emily" to Katie across Naomi and Katie nodding back. How can it still hurt this much to not be with her? How could she have thought that she'd be okay, when her heart feels like it's shattering all over again? Naomi pushes back from the table. "Sorry. I'll be right back."

She runs to the bathroom, closes the door behind her and slumps down it, trying to catch her breath. She grabs at her chest, trying to make the pain disappear. Tears begin to trickle down her face, burning hot. She barely processes the knock at the door. She doesn't respond.

"Naomi, let me in." It's Katie. Naomi doesn't move.

"Naomi, please," Katie pleads after another minute passes with no response.

Naomi sighs. She doesn't really want to see her, but, knowing Katie, she won't go away. Naomi scoots away from the door, opening it a crack as she does so. Katie slips in the bathroom a second later. Naomi doesn't look up, but before she knows it Katie's crouching next to her.

"Sorry," Katie murmurs.

Naomi shrugs off the apology. "You didn't do anything. I took your phone."

"She wouldn't have been texting if I hadn't called her earlier," Katie counters.

"She's mad at you, you know," Naomi comments after another minute.

"I'm not surprised," Katie replies.

"What'd you say to her?" Naomi asks, hating herself for doing so. She doesn't really want to know. But she does.

"Told her you'd be here soon, then hung up," Katie says honestly after a second.

Naomi looks up at her in surprise. "Really? No wonder she's mad."

Katie smiles. "She deserved it," she mutters.

Naomi wants to ask why, but suspects that in this case, she _really_ doesn't want to know the answer. Naomi can just imagine Emily's reaction to finding out that her sister is hanging out with her ex. It wouldn't be good, that's for sure. Especially if Katie didn't explain. "How did she sound?"

Katie smiles sadly at her. "Naomi," she sighs. "Don't do this to yourself, ok? Don't wonder. Don't waste the time."

"She's moved on then?" Naomi concludes. Katie'd been a bit more hopeful the last time they'd talked. There was only one thing that Naomi could come up with that'd change her mind.

"I don't know," Katie replies.

"Liar," Naomi accuses sadly, hating that the tears are spilling down her cheeks even faster now. Hating that Katie's watching her cry again.

"It's not a lie. I think...Maybe. But you shouldn't care, Naomi! You're...You're not her girlfriend anymore," Katie says the last part softly, putting a comforting hand on one of Naomi's.

Naomi closes her eyes, attempting to block out the pain in her chest with the light. It doesn't work. "I know," she whispers.

"Maybe it's a good thing," Katie soothes, sitting down next to Naomi and taking her hand in her own. "I mean who meets the love of their life at twelve?"

Katie's obviously attempting a joke, but Naomi can't find it in her to even smile, let alone laugh. The truth was that she thought that she had. Well, she hadn't admitted it to herself until sixteen obviously, but Emily had held her attention all through middle school. Katie, on the other hand, had annoyed her from day one. Bossy and bitchy even at twelve. She'd avoided Katie like the plague back then. Funny that that was the twin she was now sitting in a bathroom with.

They sit in silence for a few minutes and Naomi finds herself leaning her head on Katie's shoulder. Katie doesn't complain about the tears that stain her shirt. Naomi's a bit surprised. The old Katie would have. She keeps having to remind herself that Katie's changed.

It feels weird, taking comfort in a body that feels simultaneously familiar and foreign to her.

Katie wraps an arm around her. "It'll be ok," she offers.

Naomi nods, but she's back to not being sure she believes it.

"Come on. Luke makes a killer chocolate soufflé. You really don't want to miss dessert," Katie says after a few more minutes when Naomi's managed to get control over her tears a bit more.

"Thanks," Naomi murmurs as she stands up and straightens out her clothes.

Katie shrugs. "No problem."

"Sorry about your top," Naomi says, noticing the big wet patch on the girl's shoulder.

Katie cracks a grin. "Look at you apologising about clothes! Never thought I'd see the day," Katie teases.

Naomi manages a smile, but it fades all too quickly.

"You might want to clean up your makeup a bit," Katie suggests.

Naomi looks in the mirror. Her mascara has run, and it definitely doesn't look overly attractive. She turns on the tap and splashes some cold water on her face. Katie opens a cupboard next to her and hands her a washcloth. Naomi sets to work cleaning up her makeup. Katie opens the door and turns on down the hall, away from the meal.

Naomi hesitates the follows. She's not really thrilled about the prospect of facing everyone she's just made a fool out of herself in front of alone. She's not especially sure that having Katie at her side will make it any better, but somehow the option seems preferable.

"Just going to change my top," Katie explains as she enters a room and peels off her top.

Naomi freezes. Her eyes graze over Katie's body, which she has to admit is ridiculously fit, before she remembers who exactly she's perving over. She forces her eyes to stare at the ceiling awkwardly. "You do know you're changing in front of a lesbian," Naomi points out.

Katie laughs lightly. "I'm pretty sure I've been changing in front of a lesbian my whole life."

Naomi furrows her brow for a second then realises what Katie means. "I meant one who's not related to you."

"You're not looking, so I'm not overly worried," Katie's reply is a bit muffled and when Naomi glances she sees that's because Katie's pulling another top over her head. Katie's eyes meet hers and Naomi blushes unwillingly. "Well you weren't," Katie adds with a smug smile.

"Sorry," Naomi mutters.

"It's ok, babes. I know I'm hot," Katie teases as she brushes past Naomi.

Naomi takes a deep breath and follows her down the hallway. "I've seen hotter," she replied playfully.

Katie mocks being shocked. "Just because I know you're talking about my sister, I take offense to that."

Naomi pauses as they approach the kitchen. "Katie?"

"Yeah?" Katie stops and turns to face her.

"Did you mean it? About considering me your friend?" Naomi inquires.

"What?" Katie's brows furrow.

"You said that the strangest friendship to come out of our group of friends is us. Which means you consider me a friend?"

Katie rolls her eyes. "Oh yeah. Of course. Don't be stupid. I mean we've more or less been friends for two years now."

"Have we?" Naomi inquires, feeling a bit baffled.

"Well we stopped being enemies like over a year and a half ago, right?"

Naomi considers it. They had managed occasional civility, but that was about as much as she'd give them. Still, Katie clearly saw it a bit differently, so maybe Naomi had misread some of the situations. It wouldn't be the first time. She nods. "Yeah, I guess."

"And it's not like it's been unpleasant hanging out this week, right?" Katie prompts.

"No. Definitely not," Naomi agrees.

"So we're friends," Katie concludes.

Naomi smiles at the idea. "Yeah. I guess so."

Katie smiles back at her. "Now come on! If my soufflé's collapsed I might hold a grudge."

Naomi rolls her eyes and follows the smaller girl back to the table.

"Everything alright?" Alice whispers in her ear.

Naomi nods.

"I would've come after you, but Katie insisted," Alice informed her.

Naomi glances sideways at Katie. The girl continues to surprise her.

"She seemed genuinely worried," Alice adds.

Naomi nods as Luke sets down a tray of mini dishes of soufflé on the table. "Looks delicious," she smiles at him.

He nods back with a smile.

"Just wait 'til you taste it," Jason replies, smiling proudly at his boyfriend.

Naomi feels a pang of pain at the obvious affection between them. She used to have that. Still, maybe Katie is right. Maybe someday it will be ok.

Katie catches her eye and smiles at her as she takes her first bite of soufflé and Naomi has to admit that it's incredibly delicious. It just melts on her tongue. Katie winks and Naomi thinks that maybe with the help of friends she'll get through this.

She doesn't remember until later that night that Katie doesn't normally live in Brighton and is going back to London soon. It's only about an hour away, but Naomi can't help feeling disappointed that she's not going to get to see her more regularly now that she's actually getting to know the real Katie.


	5. Chapter 5

Naomi can't help thinking that it's a bit strange that she feels a bit lonelier when Katie leaves town. It's not like she and Katie are suddenly best friends, but now they _are_ at least friends and it was nice having her around. She made for a good distraction a lot of the time. It also had felt like she'd had a temporary connection to Emily in a distorted way. Not that she'd had the right to ask and not that Katie would have told her anything, but at least she'd gotten to know that Emily was still alive or whatever thanks to intercepting that text message. It was something. Now she didn't know.

It's almost excruciating, not being able to know about Emily and not having the right to ask. Naomi finds herself starting an e-mail to her almost every day, but she never sends it. Emily doesn't want to hear from her, or she would've contacted her. Naomi's sure of that.

Three days after Katie leaves town, Naomi's surprised with a phone call from her.

"Thought I'd check in and see how my favourite blonde lesbian is doing," Katie comments and Naomi's jaw drops because she really never thought that she'd be Katie's favourite anything besides "favourite person to hate."

Naomi can't help that she's still adjusting to their new dynamic. It's stranger over the phone too. Not as easy as it was in person. She can't see Katie to read her as well. "Surviving," Naomi responds truthfully. That's what it feels like. It doesn't feel like she's living. It doesn't feel like she's doing ok. Well, sometimes it does, but for the most part it just feels like she's hanging on, possibly by as little as a thread.

"That's good. I'd hate it if you went on died on me now we're actually friends," Katie teases.

Naomi manages a smile and a small laugh.

"So I was thinking that you could come visit, if you wanted," Katie offers a second later. "Not this weekend, but the next one."

Naomi considers it for a minute. Really mulls it over. Part of her really wants to go, and not just to get that little link to Emily back. Part of her really wants to go because she'd really enjoyed Katie's company the past week. Logically, however, she's aware that she's got about three essays to write and a few exams coming up. Her coursework just won't let her go. "I've got too much work. Sorry," she replies, and even though it's the truth, she can't help thinking that it sounds a bit like an excuse.

Katie obviously thinks so too. "Right. Look, I don't bite or anything!" she says a bit more huffily.

"No, Katie! I know! And I really appreciate the offer! I want to come, but I really can't. I've got two papers due in my Human Growth and Development class in the next two weeks, a test and a paper coming up in Social Work Law, and I've got an assessment coming up by the social worker I'm shadowing!" Naomi ticks off the amount of work she's got so that Katie will hopefully understand that she's not lying.

Katie sighs. "Shit. That is a lot of work. Ok. Well some other time then?"

"Definitely," Naomi assures her.

"So how're things other than busy?" Katie inquires.

"A bit shit," Naomi replies. "Have you heard from-"

"Naoms, don't," Katie cuts her off.

The use of Emily's nickname for her freezes her blood cold. Their voices are so alike on the phone as it is, despite Katie's lisp, that she could almost fool herself into thinking that it was Emily at the other end of the phone line.

"I'm not being friends with you so you can put me in the middle of you two, ok?" Katie requests, and Naomi knows, because asking that really isn't fair to her. She's Emily's twin. She's always going to be on her side when it really comes down to things because of biology. Naomi'd learned that when she'd been dating Emily.

"Sorry," Naomi mumbles.

"Don't worry about it," Katie brushes it off.

Naomi is struck again by how much Katie has grown up in the past year.

"Could you just occasionally let me know she's alive?" Naomi asks after a second.

"How about I just tell you in the unlikely event that anything bad does happen to her?" Katie counter-offers.

It's good enough. "Thanks," Naomi says sincerely.

"How's Alice?" Katie changes the subject.

"Good. She said she wished you were still here the other day because she thought that would convince me to go out," Naomi amusedly recounts.

"Haha, I might've done," Katie laughs. "Oh, speaking of going out, I left Luke and Jason your number because they liked you and wanted to hang out with you again."

Naomi perks up a little. She quite enjoyed them, especially seeing how they interacted with Katie. She couldn't help feeling like she might get some embarrassing stories about her out of them if Katie wasn't around to stop them. "Cool. Sounds good," Naomi concedes.

"You taking care of yourself, Campbell?" Katie asks after a pause, concern evident in her voice.

"Trying," Naomi replies. She's not sure if it's a lie or not, and that bothers her.

"Not locking yourself in your room and moping over my sister still, are you?" Katie rephrases, apparently knowing her well enough to know that her answer didn't cut it, though Naomi has no idea how. Maybe it was simply osmosis. She had been around her and Emily enough that she must have observed some things about the blonde's character.

"Not as much," Naomi replies after a beat.

"You know, you need to be happy for you," Katie says after an even longer pause.

"Yeah. I think Alice said that to me the other day," Naomi murmurs.

"Right, well she's a smart girl. I liked her. She was fun. Good influence on you I think. Pretty too," Katie muses.

"Would you like me to set you two up on a date?" Naomi interjects playfully, amused grin on her face.

"Oh shut up! You know I'm straight. I was just commenting," Katie replies defensively. "Silly cunt," Katie adds for good measure.

Naomi laughs. She knows there's no bite in Katie's insult this time. "Just checking. Anyway, so's she."

"What?" Katie asks.

"Alice is straight too," Naomi supplies. "Here I was thinking you'd gotten smarter since college, but obviously I was wrong," she teases.

"Oh fuck off," Katie growls playfully. "You just can't run a linear conversation."

Naomi laughs. "Whatever you want to let your pretty little head believe, Katiekins."

"Damn straight! You better believe I'm pretty!" Katie replies self-assuredly.

Naomi rolls her eyes, though she finds the effect somewhat negligent since Katie can't see the eye roll and sigh at her. "I just rolled my eyes at you," Naomi informs her instead.

She hears Katie's sigh at the other end of the phone line and she smiles to herself.

"Yes, well, I am pretty. I'm fucking hot as hell, as a matter of fact. Or so says Andrew, who I'm going on a date with tonight," Katie replies.

Naomi feels her jaw tighten, the word date setting her on edge. She doesn't get to date anymore. Not Emily at least. At the rate she's recovering from this relationship, she'll possibly never date again. She just doesn't feel up for it. Not while she still has to fight the urge to call Emily every time something major happens in her day. Not while she still thinks "Oh I'll take Emily here sometime," when she finds somewhere cool to eat. "Oh. Well, have fun," Naomi finally manages.

"Thanks," Katie says, but her tone is unsure, like she's not certain that that's what she's supposed to reply with. She clearly caught the change in tone in Naomi's voice.

"I should go. All that coursework isn't going to do itself," Naomi murmurs, suddenly feeling the need to get off the phone with Katie.

"Right, well...I'll talk to you soon, ok?" Katie asks.

"Yeah. Sure. Bye, Katie," Naomi replies.

"Bye."

The line goes dead and Naomi lies back in her bed. What's wrong with her? When the hell is this going to not hurt so badly? Sure it's better, but it's just not better enough! She realises that she needs to stop living in the past, in the what-could-have-beens. She needs to focus on the people who actually want to be around her like Alice and apparently Luke and Jason. Like Katie. She still can't get over how weird it feels having that name on that list.

When Katie calls her again two days later and another three days after that for further conversations, she realises that that name might be on that list to stay.

--------

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It's Bristol. It's being back. That's what's got her so ridiculously miserable.

She had been doing better, especially the week prior to hols. She'd even managed to make it to dinner at Luke and Jason's with Alice despite the chaos that was her uni work. She'd been focusing on the present and the future. She'd been pushing away the past a little better.

Being back here though feels like being in the past. She sees Emily everywhere. Even her room isn't her sanctuary anymore because all she can think when she's in there is that Emily was in this room mere months ago, kissing her, hugging her, loving her, making love to her.

She lies in her bed and remembers the warmth from the small girl curled next to her. If she closes her eyes and remembers hard enough she can almost fool herself into thinking that she can feel Emily there, arm draped lazily across her stomach.

Naomi opens her eyes and feels instantly cold. The room feels bleak and lonely. She hears the doorbell ring and as her mum's out at the store she drags herself out of bed to answer the door, even though she's sure that it's just somebody calling on her mum.

Her jaw drops when she opens the door and finds familiar piercing blue eyes staring back at her from above a smirk.

"I heard you needed cheering up," Effy greets her, holding up a bottle of vodka.

"That is not what I said!" Katie scolds, appearing just behind her, struggling with the weight of a bag. "I said she needed distracting! Can't you get anything right?"

"So can we come in? Or are you just going to stand there blocking our way?" Effy inquires, amused glint in her eye.

Naomi steps back and Effy walks into the house, stopping to kiss her lightly on the cheek.

Katie follows just behind her and shoots her an apologetic look. "I really did say distracting, not cheering up." She kisses Naomi on the cheek as well.

Naomi smiles. The truth is it doesn't matter. She's just glad to have the company. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

Katie shrugs. "Wanted to surprise you. I remembered you saying how not excited you were to come back here and figured you might enjoy the company."

Naomi nods. She can't help feeling slightly touched that Katie had not only remembered that conversation, but had also been thoughtful enough to come to Bristol for Easter. "Thanks," she murmurs, closing the door behind them.

Maybe her hols won't be as bad as she thought they'd be, she thinks before she goes and settles herself on the couch next to where Katie has taken a seat and across from Effy, both of them smiling at her.

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I updated! Real life intervened and I could barely do any writing for a while and I also had another two story ideas that I started writing. Anyway, I'll try to update more regularly again. Please Read and REVIEW! Next chapter will be from Katie's pov I think. **


	6. Chapter 6

"You're kidding!" Naomi gapes and Katie glares at Effy. Why the fuck did she have to bring that up?

"Nope!" Effy replies smugly and Katie can't help but groan. By "distract Naomi" she had not meant "air all my dirty laundry".

"Katie Fitch has really kissed a girl?" Naomi gawks.

"More than one," Effy assures her.

Katie throws a pillow at Effy. "Bitch," she mutters.

Effy grins, clearly enjoying herself.

"And here I thought you were the straight twin," Naomi turns her attention to Katie.

"Oh shut up!" Katie growls, rolling her eyes. "I am, obviously!"

"Kissing girls isn't a very straight thing to do," Naomi counters.

"One was a dare for fuck's sake!" Katie tries to defend herself, but she can see the gleam in Naomi's and Effy's eyes and she knows that they're not going to drop this anytime soon.

"Only one?" Naomi inquires, amused grin plastered on her face.

"Mmhm," Effy confirms. "The one with me."

Katie hadn't thought it possible for Naomi's jaw to fall open any wider. She'd been mistaken. "Oh stop looking at me like that!" Katie grumbles.

"I'm sorry, but I just don't believe it," Naomi shakes her head.

Katie rolls her eyes and leans over to Effy, pulls her in and kisses her quickly on the lips. Whatever, it's a stupid little kiss, and she's not exactly thrilled that this subject came up, but she's certainly not a liar.

Effy grins smugly at Naomi when they break apart and Katie rolls her eyes again.

_God I have the most impossible friends,_ Katie thinks to herself.

Naomi doesn't say anything for a while, just stares at Katie wide-eyed until it's actually starting to get on Katie's nerves a bit. "What?" she snaps.

"Nothing. It's just...I never thought I'd see the day that Katie Fitch willingly kissed a girl," Naomi replies, clearly still a bit in shock.

"Oh fuck off," Katie sighs. "I'm not the homophobic, superficial bitch I used to be, alright?"

Naomi nods thoughtfully. "No you're not," she agrees quietly, and suddenly Katie finds her exasperation gone. She feels a bit sheepish now, actually.

"Right. Of course I'm not. I've grown up. We all have," Katie replies, then shoots a pointed glance at Effy and adds, "Well, most of us, that is."

Effy smirks and flips her off. Katie sticks out her tongue back.

Katie can't help feeling a bit relieved at the reversion back to a playful atmosphere as Naomi chuckles at them.

"So that brings your total up to three kisses then?" Naomi inquires, wicked grin returning to her face.

"Only two girls though!" Katie assures her. "And that wasn't even a real kiss just now!"

"You kissed them with tongue before?" Naomi's jaw drops once again and Katie really wishes that it would stop doing that.

She shrugs nonchalantly. "Well yeah."

"So this other girl you snogged then, the one that wasn't for a dare, why'd you kiss her, huh?" Naomi asks.

Katie sighs. "I dunno. We were drunk at a party and some guys suggested it and there was this really fit bloke there...And anyway, isn't uni supposed to be about like experimenting and shit?"

Katie watches as Naomi and Effy exchange a look and then burst out laughing.

"Oh for fuck's sake, pass the fucking vodka," Katie pouts. Naomi obliges and Katie takes a few big gulps.

"I'm not so sure you're completely straight, Katiekins," Naomi laughs, clearly amused by how flustered Katie is.

Katie glares. "What, do you want me to kiss you to prove it?"

"How exactly would kissing another girl prove that?" Effy interjects and Katie turns her glare on the thin brunette.

"It would like prove that there was no emotion between it or something, right? Like presumably if you're actually into girls there's more passion behind your kisses, right?" Katie stumbles for an answer. She hadn't really thought it through, it had just seemed like a decent threat.

"Perhaps, but overall I think your logic is flawed," Effy smirks. "Besides, I've kissed you, and I didn't find your kisses lacking." Effy winks and Katie groans.

"I think that might kind of be a compliment, but you're being far too annoying for me to be able to really tell," Katie sticks her tongue out again.

Effy's grin widens. "Well I am here to distract her, not you," Effy reminds her, "and I'd say it's working."

Katie turns back to Naomi who she realises is watching her and Effy with a curious expression on her face.

As if realising that the attention is now focused back on her, Naomi sits up a little straighter and clears her throat. "Yes, well, I'm definitely distracted," she assures them.

"Good," Katie nods. That is the main goal. Her heart had broken for Naomi at the dinner at Luke's house, and she definitely doesn't want to deal with a miserable Naomi now. Naomi's much more fun when she's smiling and laughing. _Shame I didn't realise that back in college,_ Katie thinks. _We could have been friends all along._

"Well if learning about Katie's sordid past is distracting, I should tell you about this Halloween party we went to," Effy begins and Katie's eyes bug out as she realises what Effy's about to recount. It's not one of her finer moments.

Katie lunges at Effy. This is definitely not a story that needs to be shared. Effy giggles and tries to dance away, but Katie's quick and grabs her. Effy doesn't seem discouraged by the sudden attack however.

"So Katie here-" Effy continues with a gleeful grin on her face.

"Shut up!" Katie warns.

"No, please, do continue," Naomi encourages, clearly amused.

"See there were these two guys that she'd been fancying a bit and they'd been fighting over her, much to her delight and-"

Effy's voice becomes muffled when Katie slaps her hand over Effy's mouth, trying desperately to shut her up.

Katie feels something hot and wet running up the palm of her hand a second later and she snatches her hand away. "Ew! Gross! You just licked me!" she complains, wiping her hand on Effy's shirt.

Effy simply laughs and winks at her. "Not the first time, babe."

"Urgh! Fuck you!" Katie growls.

"You wish!" Effy teases.

Katie knows that Effy's trying to rile her up. She's got a singular talent for it, even though she's Katie's best friend these days. Katie can't help the way that she gets to her though. She's always had that skill. Katie tries tickling Effy to get her to shut up. It was a weakness she'd discovered accidently.

In minutes Effy is a giggling, screaming ball of thrashing arms and legs on the floor, begging Katie to stop tickling.

"Promise not to tell her?" Katie demands.

"No," Effy giggles and is immediately tickled again.

"Promise!" Katie insists.

"Nope!" Effy manages to squeal in between giggles and gasps for breath.

"Bitch!" Katie accuses.

"Yeah, but you love me!" Effy retorts, finally managing to capture Katie's hands.

They're stalemated then, so Katie tries her best to stare Effy down, but really Effy could win any staring contest.

"So anyway, Naoms," Effy continues and Katie glares hard and struggles a little more vigorously to free a hand so that she can start tickling Effy again, but Effy's got a rather good grip. "Katie here, I would assume as more of her experimentation kick-"

"Don't you fucking dare!" Katie threatens, feeling her face turning bright red and hating it. Seriously, she'd been ridiculously drunk, and high on MDMA and ok maybe it hadn't even seemed like a brilliant idea at the time, and she'd felt filthy the next day, but she'd moved past it!

"Why not? Might help prove that you're straight," Effy smirks, and Katie knows that Effy's got her there, but she can't help worrying that this is going to change Naomi's opinion of her drastically. It had almost changed her opinion of herself rather a lot.

"Because it's fucking embarrassing! I'd rather go back to talking about me kissing girls! For fuck's sake, I'd rather kiss another girl!" Katie gives one last plea.

Effy raises an eyebrow and Katie realises that potentially what she's said is an option, so she stops struggling against Effy's hands and rather collapses towards her, mashing their lips together. The small gasp that Effy lets out informs Katie that she's managed to take the brunette by surprise, which is still quite a feat. Katie lets the kiss continue and deepen, hoping that it'll distract both Effy and Naomi enough that they can move on.

Really the problem is that she doesn't have nearly enough embarrassing stories about Effy to retaliate with, she realises. Still, all in all, kissing Effy really isn't an unpleasant thing. Kissing girls isn't really, or at least Jackie had been rather good at it. It's certainly different from kissing boys, but not bad. Katie can't help that she feels on surer footing when it came to men, and there really is something about flat abs and a sturdy, muscular chest, and those strong arms wrapping around her that she just really likes.

She pulls back eventually and wipes her mouth, though more out of habit than anything else. Effy isn't nearly as sloppy a kisser as a lot of the guys she's snogged.

"Straight my ass," Naomi murmurs behind them, and when Katie turns around she finds Naomi gaping at her once again.

Katie rolls her eyes. "Whatever! It fucking shut her up, alright?" She moves back to her previous seat and tries to regain her composure and fight the blush that she knows is now burning her cheeks bright red.

Naomi smirks then and Katie sees her raise a questioning eyebrow at Effy, who, to her dismay, mouths the words blow jobs then mimics giving two at once.

Katie groans. "Fucking bitch," she mutters.

"Katie Fitch, you slag!" Naomi accuses with such glee that Katie almost thinks it's worth it having her know with how entertained she seems by the news. She's certainly not moping or thinking about Emily which are two major pluses.

In the one conversation that Katie'd managed to have with her sister since that dinner, she'd ascertained that her sister is "seeing someone" though she can tell it isn't serious. Naomi definitely doesn't need to know. Katie had felt rather smug when she'd managed to work the fact that she'd be seeing Naomi again into the conversation before once again ending it abruptly. Sure it had resulted in an almost full inbox full of questioning and progressively more irate texts from her sister, but she wanted to remind Emily that someone was hurting because of her. Katie can't shake the feeling that Emily is probably hurting as well, just doesn't know how to deal with it. She hopes that her sister doesn't take too long finding herself. She hopes that her sister doesn't decide to try fucking Naomi over again in the process.

"I am not a slag! It was one time, and obviously a mistake!" Katie defends herself.

"You tripped and landed with your mouth on their cocks?" Naomi suggests with a wry smile.

"Oh shut up, cunt!" Katie shoots back at her, but it's playful.

"Slag," Naomi reiterates, and it's almost affectionate, but Katie most certainly isn't one. Not anymore.

"I'll have you know that I haven't even had sex, oral or otherwise, since before Christmas thank you very much!" Katie announces.

"That sucks," Effy comments dryly.

Katie glares and flips her off.

"Showing us what you've been using to scratch that itch in the meantime?" Effy suggests.

Katie groans. "You two are fucking impossible!" They really are. How did she even end up in this situation where they're just sitting there taking the piss. So unfair!

Effy and Naomi laugh and Katie watches them. The smile on Naomi's face almost makes it worth it.

That is until she looks at Katie with an amused expression on her face and says, "But that kiss was fucking hot! I think you might need to face the fact that you might be at the very least bi, Katiekins!"

"So, how're you doing?" Katie asks as she stares at the ceiling of Naomi's room. Effy is asleep on the couch downstairs.

Naomi is quiet for a few seconds which Katie takes as an indication that she's considering the question. "Ok, really," Naomi muses. "You and Effy are...well, I really appreciate it. Thanks."

Katie smiles. "You're welcome." She can't solve the basic problem, but at least she's helping make things better.

"I still can't believe what a slag you are," Naomi teases and Katie elbows her in the side.

"Shut up! I'm not! It was once!" Katie rolls her eyes.

"The girl kissing wasn't," Naomi points out.

"Kissing girls doesn't make me a slag. Especially since it's only been two girls," Katie rationalises.

"That's more than most straight girls, you know," Naomi says and Katie can just hear the amusement in her voice.

"No it's not. Not necessarily," Katie grasps at straws.

"Not necessarily?" Naomi teases.

"Oh shut up!" Katie repeats fully aware that she's sounding like a pouting child.

Naomi laughs. "You're funny Katie. Sorry I never gave you a chance to find that out back in college."

Katie smiles at Naomi. "Yeah, well making up for lost time, right?"

"Yeah. Just think of all the other things I have to learn that I can tease you about forever," Naomi grins back.

"Cunt!" Katie growls, but it's playful.

"Bitch," Naomi replies, her tone light, but clearly getting drowsy.

Katie lets out a small laugh.

"Except you're not anymore. Not really. You're not Katie Fitch the Bitch these days," Naomi comments as she yawns.

Katie frowns then. Was that really how Naomi had thought of her? Not that she'd really tried to not be a bitch to her, but...Katie isn't entirely sure why the knowledge that that was what Naomi called her behind her back actually stings a bit. By anyone's standards she had been rather a big bitch to Naomi at least the first year of college and only slightly less second year. She sighs. At least Naomi doesn't think she's still that person. "Thanks, I think," Katie murmurs.

Naomi doesn't respond and a few minutes later the girl's heavy breathing assures Katie that she's asleep. A few minutes after that, Katie feels herself slipping into unconsciousness as well. Her final thought before she's out completely is that her sister's a real twat sometimes.


	7. Chapter 7

The first thing that Naomi's aware of is the warmth beside her. She smiles to herself and rolls over, wrapping her body around the familiar form of the smaller girl. She slides her leg up the girl's lower leg, and presses her thigh up against the girl's centre. Why on Earth had she let Emily wear a shirt to bed the night before? Or knickers for that matter? Naomi's groggy mind shrugs it off as she runs her fingers along the soft line of exposed flesh between the girl's knickers and her shirt, slipping her hand up underneath the latter. She slides her hand up a smooth stomach as she nuzzles her face into the girl's hair. She breathes in deeply, smelling the familiar shampoo, but she frowns, brows furrowing as she detects a hint of something that's decidedly unfamiliar. As her hand clamps down on a pert breast, she realises that there's something different about it as well. Not unpleasant...definitely not unpleasant...just, different. Naomi's eye fly open and she freezes, her whole body stiffening as memories of the current situation and who exactly is in her bed come back to her at the same time that the girl in her embrace clears her throat forcefully.

Naomi squeezes her eyes tightly shut in embarrassment. "Katie?" she asks, as if she really needs the confirmation of her suspicions.

"Bingo," Katie replies. "Now would you mind getting your lezza hand off my tit, please?" Katie points out in a way that suggests that if Naomi doesn't do so, she might end up with a few broken fingers.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Naomi cringes, rolling away from Katie and snatching her hand back from under Katie's top, clutching it to her. She smacks her head to try to rid herself of her stupidity. "It's just I was back in my room, you know? And I wasn't really awake yet, and I'm not really used to being in my bed with anyone besides Emily and I just...forgot," Naomi finishes lamely.

Naomi catches Katie rolling to face her out of the corner of her eye, but she knows that her cheeks have turned bright red and there's no way that she can look Katie in the eye just now, or possibly ever again.

"It was just...you know, being back in Bristol...in here..."

"Naomi, shut up!" Katie sighs.

Naomi does so. She really doesn't want to make matters worse (if that's actually possible).

"I get it, ok? It's fine," Katie tells her.

Naomi's not sure whether or not to believe her but a question has just occurred to her, and she can't not ask. "Why didn't you stop me? Like before I reached your tit?"

"Or before you slid your leg up between mine?" Katie suggests, and Naomi knows that her face turns an even brighter red than it already is. "I was asleep, and then I was waking up, not really aware of what was going on, and then the next thing I knew you were touching my breast," Katie supplies.

"Sorry...again," Naomi offers.

"About what?" a voice asks from the doorway.

Naomi looks up to see a very curious looking Effy standing there and groans.

"Oh nothing...Naomi here just decided to cop a feel," Katie informs her, and Naomi really wishes that the bed would just swallow her up.

"Enjoy that did you?" Effy shoots back and for a second Naomi thinks that the girl is talking to her, but when she catches Katie flipping Effy off out of the corner of her eye, she realises that the teasing was meant for her instead.

"I'm straight, Ef," Katie reminds her.

"Sure," Effy agrees sarcastically.

Naomi's relief is short lived, however, because Effy turns her attention to her next. "Feel anything you like?" Effy inquires. "I've always thought that Katie's tits would be rather nice to feel."

Katie flips her off again, which would make Naomi smirk if she weren't so completely mortified. There is the added complexity, now that Effy brings it up, of the fact that it really wasn't unpleasant. Not at all. In fact Katie's breast is rather...Naomi shakes her head, forcing the unwelcome thought out. "Wait, why've you thought about feeling Katie's tits?" Naomi clings to part of this conversation that could turn attention away from her.

"That's a good question actually," Katie seconds.

Both of them turn curious eyes on Effy who shrugs with that infuriating smirk on her face that makes her unreadable.

"Cunt," Naomi catches Katie muttering under her breath. "Don't think I won't get an answer out of you Effy Stonem," Katie threatens.

Effy winked. "Going to kiss me again or something?" Effy suggests.

"You wish," Katie growls.

Effy simply smirks again, and Naomi can't help wondering if maybe Effy does wish. She's not sure why, but that thought makes her uneasy. "So, Campbell, you never did answer my question," Effy points out, and Naomi narrows her eyes at her.

"Fuck off, Stonem!" Naomi groans.

"I'll take that as a yes," Effy replies with a smug grin.

Naomi knows that her blush has just increased, and really she didn't think that that was humanly possible. Naomi's suddenly very aware of Katie's gaze on her, and she daren't look directly at the girl, but she kind of wants a read on what the girl might be thinking, so she tries to stealthily steal a glance out of the corner of her eye.

Katie's studying her quizzically and Naomi doesn't like it at all. "What?" she finally mutters.

Katie shakes her head. "Nothing."

Naomi allows herself a small breath of relief.

Naomi looks back at Effy who seems to be studying her as well. She's really not at all happy with all of this attention. She jumps at her phone as it rings, answering it gratefully not bothering to look at who the call is from. Whoever it is, it's a welcome distraction from current events in her bedroom.

"Hello?" she answers.

"Naomi?"

The voice on the other end of the line freezes her in her tracks. She'd been wrong about whoever it was being a welcome distraction. Very fucking wrong.

It's remarkable, really, how much her chest aches just at the one small word in that familiar voice. She closes her eyes, trying to remember how to function, trying to push the pain away. She's quiet for too long.

"Hello?" Emily says.

Naomi clears her throat, trying to find her voice. "Hi," she finally manages, her voice hoarse.

"Did I wake you up?" Emily asks.

Naomi clears her throat again. "No. No, you didn't," she says a bit more clearly. Naomi's vaguely aware of the way that Katie's tensed beside her. She glances up and sees that Effy's slipped back out of the room as quietly as she'd come.

"Oh. Good."

There's silence then, and, God, it's fucking awkward! "So how are you?" Emily finally inquires.

Naomi doesn't have an answer. She really doesn't know how she is. At the moment she's indescribable: a garbled mixture of feelings and sensations, none of which she thinks she can convey (let alone should convey) to Emily, so she settles for, "Fine. You?"

"I'm doing alright, thanks," Emily replies, and Naomi can't help but think that her answer sounds a bit more sincere than her own had. Pain cuts through her like a knife at the thought.

Naomi feels a small hand cover her own on the bed and she closes her eyes, trying to absorb the little comfort it's providing. "Oh," Naomi finally mutters.

"Look, I thought you should know...I mean you should hear it from me instead of Katie, so I hope she hasn't fucking told you yet..." Emily begins, and Naomi hears a hint of bitterness there at the mention of Katie.

She can't help wondering if they're relationship is a bit more strained than Katie's let on. A wave of apprehension washes over Naomi at what the rest of that sentence might be.

"I'm seeing someone," Emily informs her, and just like that, Naomi feels like she can't fucking breath. There's just so much pressure pushing down on her chest, crushing her that she can't even think coherently. She's only vaguely aware of tears beginning to stream down her cheeks.

"It's good to hear your voice though," Emily continues. "I hope...Well, I hope we can be friends at some point," she offers.

Naomi wants to laugh scornfully at that, but she can't. Instead she murmurs, "Maybe."

Before she has a chance to say more the phone is snatched out of her hand. She looks up to find that Katie's face has somehow managed to meld looking irate and looking concerned into what, under normal circumstances, would be considered an almost comical expression.

"You fucking cunt!" Katie growls menacingly into the phone.

Naomi wants to tell her not to. It's better that she knows. She should move on too, obviously. No, she was moving on. No words make it out. Naomi can hear Emily's defensive reply, but she doesn't listen to closely at the words.

"Of course I didn't fucking tell her! I'm not trying to hurt her!" Katie yells.

Naomi's eyes widen then. Katie's really not trying to hurt her. Katie's being fucking wonderful. She's the last person that Naomi would've ever thought would be her knight in shining armour, and yet here she was. Still, Naomi doesn't think that Emily was actively trying to hurt her by telling her. She thinks she hears Emily saying something to that effect on the other end of the phone line. The girl's voice is getting louder and rising in pitch, and part of Naomi hates that she knows her well enough to know that that means she's really pretty worked up.

"I really can't believe you sometimes!" Katie's muttering half under her breath, half to Emily.

There's some response that Naomi can't make out and then Katie's on the defensive.

"What am I doing here? She's my fucking friend, Ems! I'm being her friend!" Katie informs her angrily.

"What's it matter since when? What matters is that I am now, which is more than I can say to you.

Naomi can't make out the words coming through the phone, but they're angry and argumentative and Katie's half talking over them to reply.

"So what if I stayed all night?...No, Eff's here too...None of your fucking business!" Katie's growling and Naomi can tell that she's losing what little patience she has as the seconds tick by.

"Just do her a fucking favour and leave her alone for a bit! Give her some fucking space! You know, that thing you asked her for?" Katie snipes bitterly.

Naomi hears an irate splutter on the other end of the phone line, but Katie cuts it off. "Emily Jane Fitch, I'm not asking you! I'm telling you! I'll talk to you later!"

Katie hangs up before Emily can get out another word, and throws the phone down on the bed in aggravation.

Naomi is simply speechless. She never expected Katie to stand up like that for her, and to Emily no less. When Katie turns to look at her, she expects to see some of the frustration and annoyance she'd heard in the girl's voice on her face, but instead she finds only concern as Katie's face softens and she pulls her into a hug.

"I'm sorry my sister's such a stupid cunt," Katie murmurs into her ear.

Naomi shakes her head and pulls away. "Not your fault," Naomi sniffs as she wipes her tears off on her sleeve and tries to pull herself together. She takes a deep breath. "So you knew then?"

Katie nods.

"You could have told me," Naomi says, aware that she sounds accusing.

Katie shakes her head. "No I couldn't. Naomi...You can't...You shouldn't want to know about it."

"I need to move on," Naomi surmises.

Katie gives her a look that Naomi knows means that it would definitely be a good idea.

Naomi sighs deeply. It's so much easier said than done, and she'd thought she was making progress...she really had, but...She sighs again.

She watches as Katie climbs out of bed and stretches, then turns back to her cheekily. "You know, all in all, that wasn't my worst experience being felt up," she teases.

Naomi turns bright red again. She can't believe she'd temporarily forgotten that.

"I mean Danny...well he was hardly gentle! Wanker!" Katie continues.

Naomi can only nod her agreement. She had only met the man once, at Pandora's pyjama party, but it had been plenty.

"And Freddie...Well, let's face it. Freds was never really interested in my tits or any other part of me," Katie supplies.

Naomi nods again and her thoughts turn to the slender brunette who just left the room. "So how does that work exactly?" she voices a question she's been wondering since she found out that the two of them were still friends.

Katie shrugs. "Well neither of us is really into Freds anymore, are we?"

Naomi shakes her head.

"Besides, I apologised, she apologised. We grew up and moved on. The past is in the past," Katie informs her, and Naomi can't help notice how the last part is said a bit pointedly.

"Yeah, ok. I get it," Naomi sighs.

"Look, I don't know exactly what my sister's doing, but I think she needs some time to grow up on her own and it seems like she's moving on," Katie says softly.

"Yeah," Naomi agrees, but she can't help the stab of pain that hits her.

Katie leans in and kisses her on the cheek. "You will too. Just like Ef and I did," Katie assures her.

"Thanks," Naomi replies, almost believing the words when they come out of Katie's mouth.

"Come on. Let's go see if Effy's had the decency to make coffee," Katie suggests.

"Oh, God, yes!" Naomi agrees. Some coffee would definitely feel good right about then. And a smoke. She could definitely use a smoke!

The rest of Naomi's time at home seems to fly by, and Naomi has no doubts about the cause for that. She has no idea what Katie tells her parents, but the girl barely goes home.

Effy's around a lot too, and Naomi couldn't be more appreciative of their presence. She almost forgets, at times, the real reason for their presence.

Katie especially makes it almost easy to. She settles in as if she belongs there, and, apart from the odd hippy dig, she doesn't seem to mind the atmosphere there.

Naomi is, for once, rather grateful for her mum being who she is, because she hasn't mentioned once the fact that she seems to have adopted two new children, one of whom is Naomi's ex's twin sister. Instead she smiles, and makes pleasant conversation, and offers drinks, and jokes around. It does, however, cause a pang of pain in Naomi the first time she enters her kitchen to find her mum and Katie chatting animatedly about the drawbacks and benefits of veganism. She'd almost expected it to be Emily.

Katie looks up and flashes her a smile, and suddenly the pain's not nearly as acute. Naomi decides not to dwell on why that is for long. She simply knows that she seems to have made a really fucking good friend in Katie.

"You know, Katie, I should've known that my daughter was hanging around a fashion student. Her dress sense seems to have improved so much," Gina comments off-hand.

"Mum!" Naomi complains, as Katie disintegrates into a fit of giggles. "Oh shut up," Naomi glares at Katie, but she can't stop the smile that's spreading across her face.

"I must thank you for that," Gina tells Katie with a small wink at her daughter, who groans.

Naomi rolls her eyes, crossing the room and grabbing Katie's arm to haul her out of there.

"See you at dinner," Gina yells after them. "Effy too, I hope!"

"You're mum's funny," Katie informs her with a giggle as Naomi drags the girl up to her room.

"You would think that," Naomi sighs.

"Well, you've met mine," Katie points out.

"True," Naomi relents. "My mum's a saint in comparison. No offense."

"None taken," Katie assures her.

Naomi knows that Jenna had started to come around to Emily's lifestyle, but only begrudgingly, and only because she was outnumbered by the rest of her family. Even the old Katie had taken Emily's side by the second year of college. Naomi knows that as a result of this the relationship between the twins and their mum is rather strained.

"It's just I've been here for like five days straight, and Ef's been here three of those days, and your mum hasn't said a word, you know? She hasn't once suggested that maybe we should leave in that not even remotely subtle way that my mum does to you like five minutes after you get to our house," Katie says, and Naomi knows that she's definitely got a point there.

"That's what years of communal living will do. I think she misses having lots of people around, really," Naomi muses.

"Well, it's nice. At home Mum keeps bringing up Ems and why she isn't home. She blames you, which is fun seeing as how you're not with her anymore, but Mum doesn't know and Ems doesn't want me to tell her," Katie vents with an aggravated sigh.

"Really?" Naomi asks, trying to mask her interest. This is the most that Katie's referred to her home life or her sister in the days she's been there.

Katie tenses as if realising what she's said. "Sorry," she mutters.

"No, it's fine," Naomi hurriedly replies.

Katie turns a sceptical expression on her and Naomi can tell that she's gotten all of the information she's apt to.

"So is Ef coming back round?" Naomi inquires instead.

Katie shrugs. "You know Effy, has to keep a bit of mystery. In this case it involves not answering her phone. She'll be in touch I'm sure."

Naomi nods as she sits down on her bed, and Katie settles next to her. "Thanks, by the way," Naomi offers. "If you two hadn't been here...Well, my Easter would've been complete shit."

Katie smiles at her then. "My pleasure," she replies, and Naomi searches her face for any sign of deception, but finds none.

"It's more than just that though," Naomi tries to explain the depths of her gratitude.

"Oh?" Katie looks at her curiously.

"Your friendship..." Naomi finds her cheeks burning as she tries to find the right words. "It's just made everything loads better."

Katie's smile widens and she leans in, kissing Naomi on the cheek. "I'm glad. I'm really happy that we've become friends."

"Me too," Naomi smiles, fully aware that she's still blushing, and wishing that she wasn't.

"Good. You have to come visit me when we go back, ok?" Katie demands, staring Naomi right in the eye.

Naomi's not sure why she becomes nervous at that thought. Maybe it's just because she hasn't seen Katie interact in her new life there yet. Maybe she's just worried about how she might fit in there. As her mother had been oh so kind to point out, she isn't the most fashion forward person. She bites her lower lip as she thinks it over.

"Naomi, come on!" Katie encourages, brows furrowing at Naomi's hesitation.

Naomi nods. "Yeah. Sure. I will."

"Promise," Katie instructs, clearly not convinced.

"I promise," Naomi agrees, sounding a bit surer of herself.

"I'm holding you to that," Katie warns with a grin.

Naomi smiles despite her slight apprehension. "Yeah, alright."

"Am I interrupting anything?" Effy inquires from the doorway with a grin.

"Yeah, we were about to shag. Fuck off," Katie shoots back, sticking out her tongue.

Naomi chokes at that, coughing for a few seconds. She notes Effy raising an eyebrow as her lips quirk up in amusement.

"Alright?" Effy asks.

"Fine," Naomi nods, hating that she's blushing once again.

"You could learn to answer your phone, you know! Cunt!" Katie growls.

Effy shrugs and crosses the room gracefully before climbing on the other side of the bed and laying down on it. "I was busy."

Katie rolls her eyes and reaches out a hand to pinch Effy's side, making the girl elicit a small yelp. Naomi and Katie giggle.

"Alright, I'll answer next time," Effy relents with a sigh.

"Good," Katie replies smugly.

Effy rolls her eyes, but Naomi sees the small hint of a smile she's trying to repress. She's once again struck by the closeness of the relationship between Katie and Effy. There's a tenderness between them that she can't help but envy.

Effy tilts her head to look at them. "So what'd I miss?"


	8. Chapter 8

"You're coming to visit me, bitch," Katie informs her as soon as she picks up the phone.

"Hello to you, too," Naomi replies. "And I told you I would."

"No, I mean today. This weekend. Luke's on his way over to help you pack and drive you to the train station. No excuses," Katie explains.

Naomi considers protesting. She could have had plans for this weekend. She doesn't but she could have. She does have studying to do. On the other hand, she doesn't think Katie will accept that as an excuse. She sighs. "Do I have any say in this at all?"

"No."

"Didn't think so," Naomi sighs again.

"See you later," Katie signs off, sounding particularly smug with herself.

Naomi rolls her eyes even though she knows Katie can't see it. "See you," she mutters, hanging up her phone and glancing around her mess of a room. "He's on his way over? Shit!" She's vaguely aware that swearing won't change anything, or get her packed, but she adds a "fuck!" for good measure anyway.

There's a knock on her door a few minutes later when she's still sitting, staring bleakly at the piles of clothes strewn around wishing they'd magically fold themselves and get in the suitcase she's dragged out from under her bed of their own accord.

Luke grins cheekily at her when she opens the door. "Surprise!"

Naomi raises an eyebrow, attempting to suggest that she's had better surprises, but the boy's smile is infectious, and soon a smile is spreading across her lips. She ducks out of the way, letting him into her room.

"Wow! What a mess," he comments dryly.

"Well, I wasn't exactly expecting company," Naomi replies.

Luke shoots her another grin. "Are you really complaining that you get to go see Katie? I'd come with you if I didn't have to work at one."

"No, I suppose not," Naomi concedes. Actually, now that she's thinking about it, she's getting a bit excited. As weird as it is to think, she's actually missed Katie the last few weeks since she's been back at uni. It'll definitely be good to see her.

"Right, well let's get you packed!" Luke claps enthusiastically and begins sorting through a pile of clothes.

* * *

"Wow! You look good!" Katie greets her at the train.

In truth, Luke had picked out the outfit, but Naomi is hardly about to admit that. "Thanks," she replies instead.

Katie pulls her into a hug and kisses her on the cheek. "I'm so glad you came!" she says in Naomi's ear.

"Thanks," Naomi murmurs a little sheepishly. She feels an unexpected flip in her stomach at the simple compliment, but she pushes it away.

"Is that all you brought?" Katie inquires, indicating the small duffel bag slung over Naomi's arm.

"I'm only here for the weekend, Katie," Naomi points out.

"Yeah, right, ok," Katie replies, and Naomi's not sure, but she thinks the girl looks a tad disappointed. "Right, well, come on! No time to waste then!" she beams a moment later, taking Naomi by the hand and dragging her purposefully through the throngs of people.

* * *

Apparently Katie meant it when she said, "No time to waste," because within an hour and a half, Naomi's been introduced to a dozen of Katie's friends and fellow students. As Katie drags her to yet another friend's door, Naomi can't help thinking that in another ten minutes she's not even going to remember half of these names.

"And this is Andrew," Katie beckons, introducing her to a tall, attractive young man with golden curls set atop his head.

"Hi. Nice to meet you," Naomi finds herself saying for what feels like the umpteenth time that day.

The boy smiles back, a charming smile, and Naomi finds herself smiling back despite her sudden fatigue.

"Right, well let's get you back to my room. We have to get dressed to go out tonight. You're coming, right, Andrew?" Katie asks coyly.

"Wait, that's Andrew? Like 'I have a date with him tonight' from a month or so ago, Andrew?" Naomi asks, making the connection as synapses fire in her brain.

"Maybe," Katie grins as she rushes Naomi back towards her room. "I mean, did you see him? He's gorgeous!"

Naomi laughs and rolls her eyes again.

"Ok, so let's see what you brought. You're going to look hot tonight, and maybe find some pretty girl and have a little fun," Katie instructs as she drags Naomi back into her room.

"Sorry, but are you actually trying to get me laid?" Naomi asks in disbelief.

"Is there any harm in that? I just think maybe you could use it. Because I think that feeling me up is the most action you've got since you and my sister split, and that's just not healthy," Katie declares.

Naomi blushes faintly at the memory, for once not fazed by the reference to Emily, but she shakes it off as Katie sits her down on the bed and opens her bag. Naomi considers protesting, but she knows it would be pointless.

"This is nice! Seriously, where did all these clothes come from and why couldn't you have had this style sense in college?" Katie demands, as she lifts out a slinky black top.

"Because then you wouldn't have hated me quite as much," Naomi replies, "and that would have been too easy."

It's Katie's turn to roll her eyes. "Bitch," she mutters under her breath, but there're hints of laughter in her tone, and Naomi smiles.

It's remarkably more comfortable than she thought it would be: being here, in London, with Katie. Something about Katie's presence is becoming more and more familiar and almost soothing. Not something she would have ever attributed to Katie before.

"Here, put this on," Katie throws a stunning blue top at her.

Naomi sighs, but stands and peels off the cream top she'd been instructed to wear by Luke anyway.

"You know, your body's not half as bad as you'd have had me believe in college," Katie says, and when Naomi looks up she sees Katie eyeing her appraisingly.

"Sorry, I wasn't aware that you were all that interested in my body, Katie," Naomi shoots back.

"I'm not, obviously. For fuck's sake, can't you just take a damn compliment?" Katie replies.

"Maybe if they were more straightforward," Naomi grins. She's missed this banter more than she cares to admit.

She's suddenly aware that she's still not wearing a top and Katie's still looking at her, although it's hardly like the shorter girl is checking her out. Katie's more examining her face at this point.

"What?" Naomi demands.

"Nothing. I was just thinking that you look happier. Being away from Bristol suits you," Katie says.

"Oh, yeah, thanks," Naomi mumbles self-consciously, pulling the new top over her head. "How's this?" she asks as a change of subject, turning around to show off the top.

"Hot. Now we just have to fix your makeup," Katie declares.

"What's wrong with my makeup?" Naomi pouts.

"It's just, like, not 'going out' makeup, right?" Katie replies.

Naomi rolls her eyes. She's aware that it won't get her out of Katie hovering over her, adjusting her makeup to her satisfaction, but it makes her feel better anyway. She knows that she and Katie will most likely be primping for the next few hours, despite the fact that she thinks that she looks perfectly fine as she is, and Katie always looks hot (not that she'd necessarily admit that out loud).

Naomi has to grin, though, when Katie pauses mid search through a bag of makeup and says, "Oh, I almost forgot. Thought this would help us get ready for the night." Katie produces a bottle of vodka from her closet and grins proudly as she holds it up.

"That's more like it," Naomi smiles back in approval.

* * *

"So how do you know Katie?" a brunette that Naomi remembers Katie introducing as Adriana asks in slightly accented English.

The girl is undeniably attractive, with tanned skin that only serves to accentuate her bright, green-blue eyes.

"We went to college together," Naomi explains.

"Cool! What was Katie like in college? I bet she was the life of the party, right?"

Naomi glances towards Katie who's doing shots of an amber coloured liquid with Andrew. "At times," she replies, remembering, with a small grin, the time that Katie had spiked the brownies with MDMA at Pandora's pyjama party. She does her best not to flinch when she remembers that that was the same night where she and Emily shared their second first kiss.

"So where do you go to uni?" Adriana inquires.

"Brighton. University of Sussex," Naomi supplies. She watches as Andrew wipes his mouth, then pulls Katie into a kiss with a chorus of cheers from some of their friends. It creates a pang of...something deep inside her. She doesn't want to know what. Whatever it is, she's sure it's not something she should be feeling. Not something healthy to feel with regards to one's ex's sister. She refocuses on the girl before her who's still desperately trying to strike up a conversation. Naomi decides to throw her a bone. "What about you? Katie said you weren't a fashion student, right?"

"Yeah, no. I'm studying psychology at London South Bank University," she replies, flashing a smile full of dazzlingly white teeth at the question.

Naomi can't help wondering what she uses to whiten them. There's no way they're like that naturally. Still, she's studying Psychology, so she must have a brain. "So how did you meet Katie, then?" she inquires.

"I've got friends at LCF, so I tend to hang out in the halls there a lot and met Katie at a party. She's really cool," Adriana replies.

Naomi's eyes flit back to Katie. "Yeah, she is," she murmurs.

"So what are you studying, then?" Adriana returns to her questioning.

"Social work," Naomi replies, remembering the exam she has coming up and regretting her choice of degree.

"Oooh! That must be interesting!" Adriana leans in closer, and Naomi catches a whiff of her perfume as long brown hair falls over the girl's face.

Naomi has to admit that she smells rather...enticing. Like vanilla and orange blossoms. She finds herself leaning in, and before she can think, she's reached up and tucked Adriana's hair back behind her ear so she can see her face better again.

Adriana's looking up at her shyly, then, through incredibly long lashes.

Naomi swallows hard, realising that their actions very strongly resemble flirting. She hadn't meant the movement to mean anything. Not really. She'd just wanted to see Adriana a little better.

Now that she's staring her in the eye, she feels hints of a familiar flutter in her stomach. It's faint, nothing like how it felt with Emily, but it's something. It terrifies her. And Adriana's right there, looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to do something, and suddenly Naomi's just clueless and she feels herself starting to panic.

"Naoms," Katie breaks in, throwing and arm around her, and Naomi feels herself instantly start to relax a bit. "Having fun?" she asks, and Naomi can hear the underlying accusation in her tone.

"Umm, yeah," she murmurs, feeling her face flush, and pulling back, away from Adriana, who seems to deflate a little.

"Great. Do you mind if I just talk to you for a minute?" Katie asks, a smile on her face that Naomi recognises as not entirely genuine. She's had it directed at her enough times, but this time it's aimed at Adriana. "I'll bring her right back," she informs the girl as she's tugging Naomi away.

"What?" Naomi inquires once they're out of earshot, ignoring the nagging thought in her brain that she's thankful that Katie interrupted when she did.

"When I suggested that you'd find a pretty girl and have some fun, I didn't mean converting my straight friends, yeah?" Katie says, cutting straight to the point in true Katie fashion.

"I haven't done anything. Anyway, I think you're wrong about that straight thing," Naomi replies defensively.

"Oh yeah, like people haven't used the 'oh let me just brush this hair behind your ear' trick on me," Katie crosses her arm and stares Naomi straight in the eye, challenging her.

"Ok, I might have done that, but I didn't mean it as a move! Honest!" Naomi tries to explain.

Katie frowns for another second then relaxes. "Sorry. I'm overreacting. It's just...Sometimes it feels like I just attract people who aren't straight these days. Not that I don't love you all, but I mean between Luke, Jason, Anthony, you, Lydia, and, well, Ems, obviously, and now apparently Adriana...That's like half of my friends!"

Naomi wracks her brain, trying to place Anthony and Lydia among the myriad of people she met earlier. She fails. "Do you like her or something?" Naomi asks.

"Who?" Katie furrows her brows in confusion.

"Adriana," Naomi replies.

"She's a girl," Katie responds.

"Yeah, she is. Did you not notice that I asked if you liked _her_?" Naomi points out.

"Oh, shut up," Katie rolls her eyes. "Straight twin, remember?"

"Right. So you're fine if I hook up with her?" Naomi asks.

Katie sighs. "Yeah. Just like, don't come in too late, ok? Can you remember where my room is?"

Naomi balks at what Katie's suggesting. "Christ, Katie! I didn't mean I was going to go shag her! I'm really...I can't...I'm not ready for that," Naomi admits quietly.

"Oh. I just- Sorry. I shouldn't have assumed. So by hook up you meant-"

"A snog. Maybe. In truth I was about to run away when you appeared next to me."

"Oh. Well don't do that," Katie rolls her eyes again. "Look, sorry I interrupted. You should go back. Talk to her. She's smart actually. Right up your alley."

"How do you know what's right up my alley?" Naomi challenges, stalling.

"Umm. Hi, I'm Katie. You dated my twin sister for like two years?"

Naomi ignores the pang of pain in her chest. She's been getting better at doing that of late. "Knowing one person that I like doesn't mean you know my type," Naomi counters.

Katie appears to consider this for a minute. "So you're saying you're not even remotely attracted to Adriana?"

"I didn't say that-"

"Good, because I might have to question your lesbianism. I mean, she's fucking hot. Even I can see that."

"I'm still questioning your straightness," Naomi mutters.

Katie elbows her in the side. "Whatever. Now go back, talk to her, and don't chicken out."

Naomi looks back at Adriana who's watching them, bright eyes curious. She is really hot. And it really wouldn't be that bad to just talk to her a bit. Definitely no shagging. She's not even remotely ready for that. Maybe a kiss though...

Naomi feels the panic building back up at that consideration.

"You're over-thinking it. Go. Now," Katie says with a shove to her back so that Naomi stumbles forward a step.

Katie's right, she knows. She files away the question of when exactly Katie came to read her so well in her brain for later. She looks up sheepishly at Adriana and manages a smile. _Don't think. Just talk._


	9. Chapter 9

It hits her later. After she's chatted with Adriana, flirted a bit even. After she and Adriana have shared a tender kiss that made her slightly nauseous and excited her at the same time. After she considered, that maybe, just maybe there's a chance that she really could move on from Emily and be happy. After she and Katie are back in Katie's room, both rather tipsy, giggling about nothing in particular as they attempt to change into something resembling pyjamas and get ready for bed. After Katie's rolled her eyes at the idea that Naomi should sleep on the floor. After Katie's rolled over so that she's snoring into Naomi's side.

It's then that something in Naomi's brain goes 'click'. She replays the words in her head, just in case they sound different in retrospect. They obviously weren't meant in a romantic fashion. Maybe she didn't really mean them at all. It is one of those things that one just kind of says. Still, it's the use of the word, and it throws her. It's not something that she'd ever have expected to hear anything remotely similar to coming out of this Fitch twin's mouth. Not aimed at her at anyway. Even just superficially.

She'd said "not that I don't love you all" referring to her not straight friends. _Love._ Naomi's already confirmed that she counts in the "friend" department these days. And Naomi had gotten a general sense of her inclusion in that blanket statement. Still, the word throws her.

Love. It's complex, and big, and scary, and even as it relates to just friends, it's never a word that Naomi's been overly comfortable with. When she'd finally said it to Emily it had been major. A massive, important event in her timeline. She'd never said it to anyone not family before then. When Emily had said it to her, she'd felt her heart soar and her stomach twist in anxious, terrified knots simultaneously. And now Katie's thrown it out there, seemingly unaware of the magnitude of the word.

"Katie," she elbows her in the side. There's a change in the faint snoring from beside her, but a second later it evens out again. "Katie," she says a little louder, trying the elbow again.

There's a grunt and then Katie's rolling onto her back and squinting blearily at her.  
"What?" Katie croaks, voice hoarse.

"What'd you mean when you said you love us all?" Naomi asks.

Naomi can make out the way that Katie's brows furrow with the light that's streaming in from the streetlight outside the window.

"What time is it?" Katie asks, awareness still obviously streaming slowly in.

Naomi glances at the clock. "Half two," she replies, realising rather sheepishly that it's quite late and it's really a rather stupid reason to wake somebody up. She's woken her now, though, so she may as well find out. "So earlier, when you said you love us all, like all your gay friends, what did you mean?"

Katie gives her a look that clearly conveys the idea that Naomi might have just sprouted a second head.

"Like did you mean it?" Naomi tries again, aware that she's not asking what she actually wants to know very clearly.

"Mean what exactly?" Katie frowns.

Naomi squirms uncomfortably, regretting her decision to push for an answer more and more with each passing second. "That you love us."

A smirk spreads slowly across Katie's face and she props herself up to look at Naomi better. "Are you asking me if I love you?"

Naomi rolls her eyes, now officially regretting that she'd brought it up to begin with. "Fucking go back to sleep," she dismisses the question.

Katie lets out a small bark of laughter. "You are, aren't you?"

"Oh, fuck off," Naomi grumbles, rolling away from Katie as she feels her cheeks flush, and closing her eyes tight.

Katie giggles for another moment, poking her playfully in the back, but then she seems to sober a bit. "Why does it matter?"

"It doesn't," Naomi replies much too quickly.

Katie pulls on her shoulder, forcing Naomi to roll back onto her back. Naomi sees Katie studying her thoughtfully with one eyebrow raised.

"It does, doesn't it? Matter, I mean."

"It's just the word, all right? I've got...issues or something," Naomi mutters feeling extremely self-conscious.

Katie laughs again. "I've always known that."

"Fuck you," Naomi glowers.

Katie grins down at her for another second before becoming serious again. "So what, the word 'love' bothers you?"

"No, I just- Yeah, kind of," Naomi admits.

Katie frowns. "That's kind of sad, really. I mean, you're my friend, Naomi. Obviously I care about you, right?"

Naomi feels her stomach flip unexpectedly and she has to swallow hard before she can reply. "I guess."

Katie rolls her eyes. "Of course I do. Does me caring for you bother you?"

Naomi squirms uncomfortably. She'd really like nothing more right now than to pull the pillow over her head and just disappear, but, knowing Katie, she's not going to be allowed to get out of this that easily. "I guess not," she finally replies.

"You guess not? Would you rather I not? If so, I'd gladly take my whole bed back and you can have the floor," Katie teases.

"No, it doesn't bother me," Naomi sighs sullenly. "And good luck getting me to move."

Katie grins. "Well apparently all I'd have to do is tell you I love you and it'd scare you off."

"You're really not going to drop this, are you?" Naomi groans.

Katie appears to consider the question for a moment before saying, "Nope."

"I shouldn't have brought it up," Naomi mutters under her breath.

"Why? We're friends. You can talk to me about anything, you know," Katie probes, suddenly serious again.

"It's just stupid. I mean, Christ, the first time your sister said it to me, I fucking freaked out, even though I'd been longing to hear those words come out of her mouth. I tried to stay calm, but it fucking terrified me, and I couldn't say it back, even though I already felt it. We were in my bed and I was half asleep, but the words snapped me awake. I pretended to be asleep though, and she went to sleep and as soon as I heard her snoring I got out of bed and ran to the bathroom, fucking hyperventilating. It's ridiculous. Who reacts like that?"

"You apparently. And boys. And for the record, I don't love you like Emily did. So no panicking necessary."

"Obviously," Naomi rolls her eyes. "I didn't think that I'd suddenly become your type. I'm not delusional."

"Hasn't a friend ever told you they love you before?" Katie asks.

Naomi frowns as she thinks about it, trying to recall any instances. "No," she finally admits. "Just Emily."

"She doesn't count," Katie replies, her face extremely serious and her brows furrowed.

Naomi starts to squirm again under the intensity of the gaze that Katie's scrutinizing her with, and she's about to snap, but then Katie's placing a tender kiss on her cheek.

"Well, not to freak you out or anything, but I do, on a strictly platonic level of course."

Naomi's heart flutters, and she knows it's stupid but somehow she's incredibly touched (and, yes, a little freaked). She resists the urge to run and hide, however, and even manages a smile back at Katie. "Of course," she echoes, trying to make her voice sound light and teasing. She fails miserably.

Katie lingers above her for another minute, during which Naomi becomes acutely aware of the way that Katie's leaning against her side a bit, and the way that Katie's face is still so close to hers, and in the low light from the moon, she looks almost unearthly pretty. The thought confuses Naomi, but she can't really think about it for long because Katie rolls onto her back, away from her and yawns. "Right, now that that's established can I fucking go back to sleep please?"

Naomi lets out a small laugh that sounds far too timid. "Yeah. Sorry."

Katie nods. "Goodnight, Naoms."

"Night," Naomi echoes.

She soon hears the sound of Katie's breathing evening out, indicating that she's slipping out of consciousness again, but Naomi just can't seem to sleep. She stares at the ceiling, replaying the whole silly conversation in her head. It was stupid to have brought it up. So stupid. And really she knows she's silly to make a big deal of it at all. She wishes that she could take the whole conversation back. Well, maybe not the whole conversation. The kiss on the cheek and the admission of caring and even love from Katie had made her feel happier than she'd been in a long while. _Stop fucking overanalysing things. This is why you have issues with love to begin with! _she scolds herself. She sighs and rolls onto her side, facing Katie. She looks so peaceful sleeping there next to her. Naomi smiles unconsciously. She hesitates for a split second before leaning in and placing a kiss on Katie's cheek. She can't say it, even though she knows it's stupid not to be able to, but she just might love Katie, too...Platonically of course.

.

.

"Come on, slow poke!" Katie drags her along. She's following, rather reluctantly, down the corridors of Katie's college. Katie still hasn't told her where they're going.

"Maybe if you stopped trying to run me into things, I'd be able to come along a little faster," Naomi replies, dodging another stray mannequin serving no actual purpose except to clutter the hall as far as she can tell.

Katie ignores her, of course, and continues forward, until she comes to such an abrupt stop that Naomi almost runs into the back of her.

"Watch it!" Katie rebukes, as Naomi struggles to catch her balance.

"Sorry," Naomi mutters half-heartedly. She's still a bit groggy. It had taken her ages to fall asleep in the end, and Katie had woke her up, insisting they needed to go to brunch at this café nearby that made omelettes to die for, far earlier than her liking.

"You're not still grumpy because I woke you, are you? You loved the omelettes," Katie accuses.

Katie has her there. The food in general was delicious. Plus fresh squeezed orange juice to top it off.

"Besides, you didn't really want to sleep away your only full day with me, right?" Katie says with a smirk.

Naomi rolls her eyes. "I suppose not. So anyway, are we wherever we were going?"

"Yes," Katie replies, smiling broadly and swinging open the door in front of them.

Naomi peers in. The room contains several more clothes mannequins, some partially clothed, others bare, as well as a few scattered easels. The walls are plastered in finished designs (some of them rather ridiculous, but some, Naomi has to admit, look pretty cool). Katie marches straight up to one of the easels where there's already a blank paper attached, picks up a pencil, and scribbles something in the corner.

"Right, stand right here," Katie turns her attention back to Naomi, crossing to her and dragging her just next to the easel she was just standing at. "Stand up straight. Honestly, you'd be so much more attractive if you didn't slouch half the time."

"Gee thanks," Naomi mutters, but straightening anyway.

"Right, okay, good," Katie murmurs, apparently paying her no mind.

Naomi watches Katie head to the corner of the room where there's a desk, a filing cabinet, and a small chest of drawers. She opens one and pulls out measuring tape.

"What are you doing?" Naomi asks, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Shh," Katie reprimands, coming back over to her.

Before Naomi can protest, Katie's on her, completely invading her personal space, lifting her arms as if she's a rag doll, and wrapping the tape around her chest.

"Katie!" Naomi protests, as Katie's hands lower and the tape wraps around her tits.

"Relax. It's not like I'm copping a feel or something," Katie replies, and Naomi knows that the dig is deliberate by the cheeky grin on her face.

Naomi feels her cheeks flush against her will. "That was an accident."

"And this is professional," Katie informs her, lowering the tape again and taking another measurement before going back to the paper and scribbling something down.

"You're measuring me?"

"No, I just thought it would be fun to try to make one of my best mates as uncomfortable as possible," Katie retorts sarcastically, coming back for more measurements, running the measuring tape around Naomi's hips.

"Oh, fuck off," Naomi grumbles, although the words "one of my best mates" echo in her head, causing her to have to repress a smile.

"Look, stand still, will you? And you're slouching again," Katie huffs impatiently.

"Sorry," Naomi says, automatically straightening. "But why exactly are you measuring me?"

"I've got a bet to win, remember?"

"A bet?" Naomi's brows furrow. She doesn't remember anything about a bet.

"I'm going to make you an outfit with leopard print somewhere on it that you're going to actually like and wear," Katie reminds her.

Naomi's eyes widen. "I didn't realise that we'd actually bet on that."

Katie pauses. "I suppose we didn't set terms or anything, but I'm still going to do it. Just you wait and see. And I can hardly do it without your measurements, can I?"

"So let's set terms," Naomi replies. She can't imagine ever wearing anything with leopard print, so there's really no harm in making a bit of a wager. "What do you want if you win?"

Katie contemplates her answer for a minute before responding, "How about you have to buy me dinner if you like the outfit. A nice one. Not some cheap chain or something, all right?"

"Okay," Naomi nods.

"And you have to wear the outfit to the dinner."

Naomi rolls her eyes, but agrees to the terms. "But if I don't like it, you're paying, and you have to wear something floral," she counters.

Katie groans. "Fine. That won't happen because you'll love it. Guaranteed."

Naomi grins smugly. "We'll see."

"Now fucking hold still!" Katie growls again.

.

.

It's not until she's back home in Brighton that she realises that she'd been talking about Emily over the weekend, thinking about her and the love they'd had, and it hadn't felt like somebody was stabbing her in the chest. It's strange to realise, but good, she reckons.

.

.

"So, how was your weekend with Katie?" Alice probes, barging into her room without knocking and flopping down on the bed next to her.

"Fun."

"That's it? That's all I get? One word?" Alice complains. "You go away for a whole weekend with a girl you once referred to as the Fitch Bitch, who happens to be your ex's twin sister, and all I get is 'fun'?"

Naomi rolls her eyes. "We hung out, went to parties, I kissed a cute girl, she actually managed to not shag the guy she's seeing so that I'd continue to have somewhere to sleep, and we talked."

"What? Back up! Kissed a cute girl?" Alice's eyes light up.

Naomi groans. She knew that Alice would pick up on that. "It's not that exciting."

"Says you!" Alice counters. "This is the first girl you've kissed since Emily! Tell me all about it!"

Naomi rolls her eyes again, but she knows better than to argue. "She was a friend of Katie's and we were chatting at a party, and flirting, and then, at the end of the night, she kissed me. It wasn't like a major snog or anything, but it was nice."

Alice grins widely. "Aww, babes, I'm so proud of you!"

"What? Why?"

"You're moving on. Finally," Alice replies.

"Well, I mean, I'm hardly about to start dating her. She lives in London for starters."

"No, obviously. But it's the fact that you've kissed someone else and you're not falling apart because of it. I think Katie has something to do with that."

Naomi frowns. "What?"

"Come on! She's been the perfect picture of an amazing best friend. It's obvious that her friendship means a lot to you. It's helped you grow stronger. It's allowed me to see my wonderful friend go from a sad shell of her former self into this gorgeous woman that I know and love."

Naomi freezes. There's that word again. Love. She thinks back to the late night conversation with Katie and smiles involuntarily for a second before the familiar panic starts to set in. "What?" she echoes her previous question.

Alice frowns. "Did you drink away all your brain cells up there or something?"

"Bitch," Naomi sticks out her tongue at her friend, starting to relax again thanks to the familiar teasing.

Alice laughs. "Well, you're acting all strange and saying 'what' a hell of a lot. I had to check."

"Fuck off," Naomi replies, but there's no harshness in her voice. Instead, she's doing her best not to laugh.

At Alice's insistence, Naomi relayed the rest of the weekend to her in more detail as well, and Naomi found herself smiling a lot as she did so. She realises that she'd really had rather a lot of fun with Katie Fitch. She had barely thought about Emily at all, and when she had, it had been more in passing, without major pangs of emotion. Katie had somehow managed to successfully distract her for over two days, and she'd thoroughly enjoyed it. Something about Katie just seemed to draw her out of the shell that she'd been creating for months. _Katie isn't reserved at all,_ Naomi thinks, _that must be what does it. She forces me to not be reserved either._ "It's refreshing being with someone so unapologetically themselves," Naomi comments aloud, without thinking.

"Hmm?" Alice prompts in confusion.

"Sorry, just thinking about Katie," Naomi replies, aware that a faint blush is now colouring her cheeks.

"Wait, are you having a go at me?"

"No," Naomi assures her. "No. Obviously, I love hanging out with you. You're my best friend." She pauses for a moment, realising that she's just let the dreaded word "love" slip from her own lips. Sure it was said almost jokingly, playfully, reassuringly, but still. _What is Katie doing to me? _She shakes herself out of it, knowing that if she doesn't make a big deal about it, Alice probably won't even notice. She ignores the little voice in the back of her head that's telling her that Katie would notice. "No, I was just thinking how...Oh, I dunno."

Alice furrows her brows and purses her lips for a moment, and studies Naomi.

"What?" Naomi asks when the scrutiny starts to get on her nerves.

"You're not doing some sort of transference thing, are you? Taking feelings for Emily and transferring them to Katie?"

"Don't use your psychology bullshit on me!" Naomi complains. "And no! Of course not! She's my friend. You know, like f-r-i-e-n-d. Same as you, only less obnoxious because she isn't studying psychology." Naomi sticks out her tongue again, and dodges with a giggle when Alice swats at her.

"Yeah, well, I was just checking," Alice replies a little dubiously.

"I mean it. Nothing going on there."

"Okay," Alice says, but Naomi can tell she's still not convinced.

Naomi sighs, deciding to let the argument rest for now. There can't really be any truth to Alice's claim. She'll come to see that in time, surely. Katie's just...well, Katie. Sure she's gorgeous and funny and surprisingly intelligent now that she isn't trying so hard to appear brainless, and she has a grin that just seems to light up the whole room, and there's always that mischievous little twinkle in her eyes that sparkle so brightly, and-

Naomi stops her thoughts dead in their tracks and swallows hard. There was a point that she was trying to make to herself somewhere in there, she's sure, but apparently she's lost sight of it a little. "We're friends," she repeats.

"Okay, all right. Well, as your other friend, I'm dragging you out tonight," Alice informs her.

Naomi doesn't bother attempting to protest. Yes, she's got coursework she should be doing, but she hasn't spent much time with Alice of late, and if she sits in her room alone she's worried she'll start to over think things.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: OMG, I am a horrible, horrible author. I know. I'm sorry. I haven't updated this since November it seems? *facepalm* I am shaking my head at myself, trust me. I just...Well, I mean, it's not the only piece I've mostly abandoned, is it? I suppose that just makes matters worse. There was real life, and other fics, and more real life, and original fiction, and all sorts of other things that got in the way and pushed this to the backburner, so I apologise profusely. If there are still any readers of this out there, hello, and sorry. ****This is also unbeta'd and not read through. It's almost 4 in the morning and I can't be arsed at the best of times, let alone now, so hopefully there's nothing too atrocious that you can't all overlook (assuming you're still interested in reading this fic at all). **

**This chapter is dedicated to the lovely and talented lazyboo (have you read No Barriers? If you haven't, why not? Hmmm? HMMMM? Go. Read.) for reading what there is so far of this fic and encouraging me to pick it up again. This chapter would not have gotten written were it not for her, so thanks! :-) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skins or the characters. **

**.**

**.**

The rest of term passes in a blur. The work just seems to pile on until Naomi eats, sleeps, and breathes coursework. The only real breaks she allows herself without feeling guilty about them afterwards are the weekly phone calls that Katie seems insistent on making, not that Naomi would ever complain. She looks forward to them all week.

They never talk about anything important, mostly just catching up on the minor weekly occurrences in their lives. Katie occasionally mentions how Effy is doing (well, it seems, enjoying her psychology studies and looking forward to spending her summer in London).

Katie's love life always provides an interesting topic of conversation as, despite how much she seems to have grown up, she goes through men at the same alarming rats she always did. It seems like almost every other week there's a new boy that Katie's gushing about.

Naomi's not sure why, but it's almost comforting that Katie never seems that serious about any of them, and Naomi can count on the fact that in a few weeks, Katie will be single again, searching for her next boy toy. It's nice knowing that no guy is going to come and steal away the best friend Naomi's had in a while (possibly ever). (It's becoming less and less strange for Naomi to think of Katie as that as the weeks go by and their friendship only solidifies.)

Naomi's love life, on the other hand, is as uneventful as ever. For starters, it's not like she's had any fucking time to go out and meet people. On the rare occasions that she is social these days, it tends to be when Katie's in town visiting Luke.

"So, guess what?" Katie prompts.

"What?" Naomi inquires dutifully.

"I got that internship I wanted in London this summer!" Katie announces, excitement evident in her voice.

Naomi smiles broadly. "Congrats! See? I told you you'd get it. Who wouldn't want to hire the fabulous Katie Fitch? You didn't wear leopard print to the interview, did you?"

"Oh, shut up. I keep telling you, there's nothing wrong with leopard print!" Katie laughs. "And, no, on that day I happened not to."

"Have to look fashionable for an internship in the fashion industry," Naomi teases.

"Like you'd know fashionable if it bit you in the arse," Katie retorts playfully.

"Not all of us want to look like the people in the magazines, Katie," Naomi replies, even though she knows they're both aware that her sense of style has improved dramatically in the past year.

"I want to design for them, not look like them. Anyway, since Ef's gonna be in London, too, we're gonna share a flat."

"Leaving me to go back and suffer Bristol by myself all summer, if I don't find a fucking job soon."

"You should look for jobs up here! Then we could all live together!" Katie suggests enthusiastically.

"Believe it or not, it's easier to look for a job someplace you actually live. Especially with my homework load at the moment," Naomi points out.

"Well isn't it lucky that you have friends in London who may or may not have been looking at jobs around here. How do you feel about menial labour?"

"You're serious? You've been looking for jobs for me?" Naomi asks, her jaw dropping.

"Well, I know you've been busy and, anyway, just think of how much fun we'd have if you were here for the summer! I talked to Alice, and I know she's going to be here with her family for most of the summer. Just think of the parties the four of us could have."

"You've spoken to Alice about this?" Naomi's not even sure when the two of them would have exchanged numbers, although they seem to be getting closer and closer with each visit. Still, Naomi's not entirely sure how she feels about the two of them talking behind her back. Not that she thinks they're plotting against, her, but apparently they're at least plotting things _involving_ her.

"Yes, and she agrees it would be fun. Come on, Naoms. This is the twenty-first century. Get on the internet and fucking look for jobs, yeah? And I've sent you an e-mail with links to a few online job applications. There's one I already put in for you with this vegan restaurant run by hippies. Figured you'd fit right in or at least know how to talk to them all what with your upbringing, so if you get a call from a Mark who sounds like he's high as a fucking kite, he's the manager –"

"You put in an application under my name?" Naomi's voice is growing higher and higher pitched as Katie keeps talking. "How did you even know enough information to fill it out?"

"Oh, please, Campbell. It was easy. Besides, they didn't ask for much. If they ask, though, you're very passionate about the benefits of vegan living."

"Katie, I had a hamburger for lunch," Naomi argues.

"Do you want a job, or not? If you'd really like to go back to Bristol and live with your mum, I'll –"

"NO! No," she cuts Katie off, trying to calm her voice and her suddenly racing heart. "Thanks. Right. So, I'm living in London for the summer?"

"Effy's coming down next weekend to go apartment hunting with me. We're getting a three bedroom place."

"Just so I'm clear, that's a yes?" Naomi prods, her head still reeling at the sudden onset of news (not to mention possibilities).

"For fuck's sake. Yes! It's a yes. You, me, Ef, and Alice. London. This summer. All clear now?" Katie sounds exasperated, but Naomi can hear the excitement in her voice as well.

Naomi's starting to feel that excitement, too. It has the potential to be awesome. She's never lived with friends before, but then again, she's never really had friends like Katie and Effy and Alice before. Not really. She's never been this close to anyone (apart from Emily, but that was different).

"Naomi?" Katie asks, sounding slightly alarmed, and Naomi realises that she hasn't actually said anything in a while.

"Right, yes. Sorry. All clear." All clear for the potentially best summer of her life.

.

.

"Naomiiii!" Katie squeals.

Naomi's bags drop from her hands as Katie tackles her in an enthusiastic embrace.

"I'm so excited you're here. This is going to be the best summer fucking _ever_!" Katie natters away excitedly.

Effy's standing in the kitchen, leaning against the counter, an amused expression on her face. She nods at Naomi who attempts a wave from where her hands are still wrapped around Katie's back.

It's a little weird knowing that this is where she'll be all summer. It seemed like she barely decided it was a good idea before she got a job and Katie was calling her letting her know that she and Effy found a flat. Between exams and papers the end of term had simply flown by.

"Let the girl breathe, Katie," Effy says when Katie still hasn't let go of Naomi a few minutes later.

Katie hops away and Naomi gasps for breath, half for show and half because Katie's got quite a strong grip for such a small girl.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm just so excited."

Naomi has to smile at her. That is, until a moment later when Katie takes in the small duffel bag and single rolling suitcase and says, "Is that all you brought?" sounding rather condescending and somewhat put out.

"I took a train up. This was plenty to manage," Naomi reminds her.

"But what are you going to wear all summer?" Katie demands.

Naomi looks down at her baggage. "The clothes in these?" she suggests.

Katie eyes the bags warily for a moment. "I'll take you shopping," she declares.

Naomi rolls her eyes and opens her mouth to protest, but Katie's already wandering away saying, "So your room's the second on the right. Bathroom's right across the hall next to my room. Ef's next to you. Couch pulls out so Alice can come visit. I was thinking we could paint –" her voice fading out as she disappears down the hallway.

Effy finally pushes off the counter and comes over. She kisses Naomi faintly on the cheek and grabs the rolling suitcase. "You know it's not worth arguing," she points out before heading off after Katie.

Left alone, Naomi looks around the space, finally really seeing it for the first time. It's nice. Naomi knows that Effy's dad is helping pay for it. Katie had said something about him thinking financial help made up for being a bastard of a father. Naomi's not about to complain, though, given how little they said she'll have to contribute for rent each month.

She lets her eyes trail over the little touches that have already been added that just scream "Katie": a few pictures on the walls and on the bookshelf, fresh flowers on the coffee table next to a copy of _Heat_ and a few high fashion magazines, and the throw pillows on the couch that look suspiciously like animal print. She can see them all living here, partying here, and having fun here. Katie and Effy chose well.

She shoulders her duffel bag and starts towards the hall when a picture catches her eye. It's of all of them, the whole gang from college. More importantly, it's of her and Emily and the gang, back when her and Emily were actually together, back when they were happy. It's from last summer when she spent every single day with a very different Fitch twin from the one she'll be living with now, wrapped in her arms, whispering sweet nothings into her ear, blissfully in love. It wasn't that long ago, and yet it feels like it was eons ago.

There's an unexpected pang of pain as she looks at the photo, at the girl she used to know and now hasn't heard from in months. She feels suddenly acutely aware of what she's lost.

A moment later, Katie screeches, "Jesus, Campbell, are you fucking coming? I want to talk paint colours with you!" breaking her out of her train of thoughts.

Effy pops her head into the hallway and shoots her a smirk, beckoning with one finger.

Naomi finds her pain dissipating into nothingness as a smile forms on her lips. _Then again,_ she thinks, _I've gained something valuable, too._

.

.

Work would be complete shit except that she actually works with some pretty cool people, and it turns out that she actually enjoys learning to cook. The customers, unfortunately, are either pretentious wankers who want to lecture anyone within earshot about healthy living but are most likely only vegan as part of the latest trend they're following, or they're completely stoned hippies. At least she's got plenty of experience with the latter.

Chris, short for Christine (but Naomi learned not to call her that on day one) is the head chef and the most particular individual when it comes to her food that Naomi has ever met, but she also has a wicked sense of humour. She's also more than willing to help Naomi out and teach her things, which Naomi appreciates. She's taken to staying after her shift just to hang around and learn from watching Chris work, and Chris will occasionally throw in a commentary to her work when she knows Naomi's watching her.

Ella, part sous chef, part waitress, part dishwasher, all around sarcastic entertainment of Naomi's work day, has fast become a close friend.

Charlie and Nancy, the husband and wife team that own the place and manage the front of the house, are two of the kindest people she's ever met, and they're both incredibly grounded, realistic, business smart people. Nancy reminds her a bit of her mum, only less annoying, and she's clearly more the hippie of the pair. Charlie's dry, snarky comments never fail to make Naomi laugh, though. It's easy to see why all the customers love him, the lone man surrounded by a restaurant full of women, even when he's being particularly ornery. Kids in particular love him, Naomi's found. They love it when he catches them picking at their food and asks them if they've finished eating their toys yet. That's his motto, he always says, "You've got to eat your toys before you can play with your food."

"Katiekins keep you up late again last night?" Ella asks Naomi as they chop vegetables side by side after Naomi yawns for what must be the tenth time in an hour.

Naomi nods as she glances at the clock. Half an hour left of her shift, she's glad to see. Her feet are aching from the fucking heels Katie made her buy and then wear out last night. She definitely won't be sticking around after work today. "I don't know where she finds the energy. She was up before me, too. Chipper as anything. Bloody unfair. At least Ef had off today and never has to be up before noon anyway."

"Lucky bastard," Ella sympathises.

"Katie said you're coming out with us tonight, by the way," Naomi informs her.

Ella grins. She's always up for a party it seems. "Where're we going?"

Naomi shrugs. "You know Katie. There's always some party to go to."

"Girl brings the party," Ella counters.

Naomi has to laugh. "True."

"Ella, table two's order's up. You free?" Chris shouts out.

"Did you want these vegetables chopped?" Ella quips back.

"Give them to Naomi. She can finish them. She's quick with a knife."

"So double the work for her and no rest for me? Slave driver!" Ella teases as she pushes the remaining vegetables in her pile towards Naomi.

"You could've at least done the onions!" Naomi calls after her as she dances away to get the order and take it out to the table.

"Wouldn't want you to miss out on crying, now, would I?" Ella winks before she pushes through the door with her back, order in hand.

Naomi makes a mental note to flick the brim of the backwards baseball hat she always sports, a souvenir from a trip to New York, when she gets back. Or maybe she'll just suggest tequila shots tonight. That'll work. Ella's got the early shift tomorrow and payback's a bitch.

.

.

"You are evil," Ella stabs drunkenly at her chest.

"She is a genius!" Katie slurs, wrapping an arm around Naomi's back.

Naomi automatically wraps her arm around Katie's shoulders in return.

"You're just saying that 'cause you don't have to work tomorrow," Ella accuses, narrowing her eyes at Katie.

"Tequila is good for you," Naomi offers up. She feels all warm and fuzzy inside. She doesn't think it's entirely because of the alcohol. She's pretty sure some of it is just having good friends with her.

"Tequila..." *hic* "...is most definitely..." *hic* "..._not_ good for you," Alice counters, stumbling up and leaning against Ella who sways under the weight.

Naomi has to giggle. She doesn't know why, but whenever tequila is involved, Alice gets the worst case of the hiccoughs. It never fails to entertain Naomi.

"God, where the fuck is our sodding flat? Why is it so far away?" Katie whines, leaning against Naomi a little heavier.

"Relax, Katiekins," Naomi declares confidently. "We are almost..." she looks around. The street looks familiar but she's not sure if that's because they live near it or she works near it. Or maybe she goes to a shop near it? She maybe should have been paying more attention to where they were walking, she muses.

"We turn right at the corner and then it's two streets down." Effy saunters up next to them, slipping her arm around Katie's waist and Naomi shoots her a grateful smile as she takes some of Katie's weight.

Naomi, for one, is not feeling sober enough to have to support a whole other person.

"Lightweights," Effy teases.

Naomi sticks out her tongue, and Katie pouts out her lower lip.

"I am no lightweight!" she declares, letting go with the arm she had wrapped around Naomi, only to sway and almost fall back into her.

Naomi laughs and she hears Effy chuckling on Katie's other side.

Alice attempts a protest, but hiccoughs again and gives up.

They round the corner, stumbling slightly as they do so, and Katie stops so abruptly that Naomi trips over her own feet. Naomi and Effy turn to look questioningly at Katie and Naomi's vaguely aware of Ella and Alice noticing that they've stopped and coming to a rather clumsy halt as well.

"We have to walk that fucking far?" Katie whines, lifting a finger and pointing in the vague direction of their building.

Naomi looks around and spots the vague familiar outline. It does still seem awfully far away. She frowns.

"It's two streets, Katie," Effy coaxes softly, reaching out a hand and tugging gently on Katie's arm.

Katie pouts out her lower lip. "That is too far. I'm tired."

Naomi laughs at how childish Katie looks, but then she tries to take a step and realises just how heavy her legs feel. She looks at the pavement. It looks rather inviting really. She sits.

"Naomi, get up," Effy sighs. "Come on. Let's keep moving."

Katie takes a seat beside Naomi on the curb. "Good idea," she says, dusting her hands off matter-of-factly.

Naomi looks up proudly at Effy. Clearly the pavement was closer than the flat, and it's not that uncomfortable.

"Are we sleeping here, then?" Ella suggests, still half supporting, half being supported by Alice.

"No," Effy replies firmly.

Naomi considers this. She wiggles in place. The ground is hard. Too hard to sleep on. "No," she mutters in agreement. "There's a park over that way," she gestures vaguely back towards the corner they've just rounded. "It's got grass. Grass is comfy."

"Naomi, the flat is right up there," Effy says sternly.

"S'far," Katie mumbles, leaning her head against Naomi.

Effy puts her hands on her hips and examines them for a moment, then shrugs. "Well, I'm going to go sleep in my nice, warm, cosy bed, with my nice soft pillow and my lovely clean sheets."

_Shit._ Naomi had to admit that that all sounded far more inviting than the grass at the park. She leans forward and looks down the road again. "I guess it's not _that_ far," she concedes.

Effy smirks and Naomi wonders if she really did those last round of shots or not because she seems far soberer than the rest of them. Too sober, really.

"Help us up?" Naomi asks, holding out a hand.

Effy rolls her eyes and shakes her head, smirk still playing at her lips, as she steps forward and takes Naomi's hand.

It takes a few tries, but eventually everyone's on their feet again and they set out on the long, arduous journey towards their flat.

_Who put it so bloody far away?_

.

.

Naomi thinks that it's a bit of a miracle, really, that they all make it back to their flat in one piece. Alice and Ella declare themselves both too drunk and exhausted to make it back to their respective homes, which results in some shuffling of sleeping arrangements given that there are only three beds and five people and they haven't really gotten a proper sofa yet and the love seat is far too small for any of them to be willing to sleep on it, no matter how drunk they are.

"Fine. You two take my bed, and I'll sleep with Katie, since Effy apparently doesn't like to share."

"I kick in my sleep," Effy repeats, but Naomi's sure that she's barely containing a smirk and that it's really a lie to not have to share.

Alice and Ella don't wait for anyone else to protest and they practically fall over each other in their rush to collapse into Naomi's bed.

"Don't forget to take your shoes off!" Naomi calls after them.

She considers it lucky, too, that she's managed to brush her teeth and drink two whole glasses of water given how fucking heavy her eyelids feel. She doesn't remember when they got so heaving, but she fucking cannot wait to close them and not have to open them for hours.

She falls into bed beside Katie who groans. Somehow Katie's managed to get out of her dress and into an oversized T-shirt. Naomi's only barely managed to wriggle her jeans off. She's not bothering trying to change any more than that.

"Tequila is fun," Katie murmurs, turning to face her sleepily.

"Very," Naomi agrees. "That's the one thing I took away from going to college with Cook."

Katie lets out a low laugh and Naomi can't help thinking that it's an awfully pleasant sound. Musical, almost.

"Know what's not fun?" Katie offers up after a few more seconds when Naomi's eyelids are drooping heavily and she jerks a little at the sudden sound of her voice.

"Mm?" she prompts.

"Hangovers," Katie muses.

Naomi wrinkles her nose and nods in agreement.

"We're going to have them, aren't we?" Katie says.

Naomi doesn't want to think about it now. She just wants to sleep. "Probably," she agrees.

"Fuck," Katie sighs, sounding chagrined.

"But we had fun," Naomi adds, in an attempt to console her.

"Yes," Katie agrees.

"Goodnight, Katie," Naomi mumbles, not opening her eyes, but scooting her head forward to give Katie a kiss on the cheek. Her eyes fly open, when soft lips meet hers for a split second.

Katie's eyes are on her too, surprise, clearly written across her features.

Naomi starts to giggle. "Oops. Apparently, I'm drunk," Naomi declares. "I missed."

Katie giggles too. "You're a mess. And we're both drunk, Naomi."

"Indeed." Naomi nods, rolling onto her back and gazing at the ceiling, wondering when it started to spin and if maybe that was something she'd need to fix in the morning.

"Night," Katie murmurs quietly next to her.

"Night," Naomi echoes, already forgetting that she'd said it already once. Her eyelids really are super heavy.

It's mere seconds before a dreamless sleep overtakes her.

.

.

It was an accident, Naomi knows. A drunken miss. A split second of a not really kiss. That is all.

It bothers her that her lips tingle slightly every time she thinks of it. That could be a problem. What fuckery is her mind playing on her now? Katie is her friend. The best fucking friend she's ever had, actually. And she's Emily's twin. She does not cause tingly lips. Mistakes to not cause feelings.

She tells herself these things sternly. Over and over.

It's just a little lingering transference from the break up, probably. Except she's really thinking about Emily so much less these days. She can even say her name without major pangs of pain and regret anymore, without feelings of loss.

Maybe friends cause tingles, she decides after a week when her lips seem determined to not get the message that they should _not_ tingle when thinking about a brief not even real kiss with Katie. That must be it. Effy or Alice or Ella, they'd all have the same effect.

What she really needs, she decides, is a date. A proper one. She needs to get back onto the market. It's been months, now, since Emily broke things off. Months during which she's grown and healed. Months without a shag.

She considers this fact.

Yes. What she needs is definitely a date.

**.**

**.**

**So if you're still with me, feel free to drop me a review and let me know so I know if I should continue putting effort into this fic. I will try to be better about updating if there's still interest! Sorry again about the ridiculous wait! **

**xx**


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